2024-04-01-accounts - The Friends Of Centre Stage

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Trustee’s Annual Report for the period

From 16 November 2022 To 31 March 2023

And

From 1 April 2023 To 31 March 2024

Charity name: The Friends of Centre Stage (FoCS) Charity registration number: 1201041

Objectives and Activities:

Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Charitable purpose: To advance the education of the students of centre stage theatre academy, and those in the geographical areas the academy works within, by the provision of facilities for the academy and the supply of grants to children and young adults up to the age of 21 (25 if with a diagnosed disability), to access training and education in musical theatre, drama and the arts at, and through, the academy.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	As a newly established organisation with charitable status, The Friends of Centre Stage (FoCS) used the period from 16 November 2022 to 31 March 2023 to focus on how we would build our funds and planning future expenditure to ensure we maximised our impact as we moved into this new phase of our existence. Prior to this period FoCS committed £4,000 worth of grants allowing 20 children from low-income families to take part in Centre Stage Theatre Academies (CSTA) Summer Youth Project 2022 which were debited in March ’23. As the charity moved into its first full financial reporting period, our ability to raise funds, and therefore support a greater number of students, increased. We were also able to provide grants enabling students to attend after school clubs, holiday workshops and main CSTA academies. In total from 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 we provided grants that supported 41 students.

Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document

Charitable purpose:
To advance the education of the students of centre
stage theatre academy, and those in the geographical
areas the academy works within, by the provision of
facilities for the academy and the supply of grants to
children and young adults up to the age of 21 (25 if with
a diagnosed disability), to access training and
education in musical theatre, drama and the arts at, and
through, the academy.

Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or services
identified in the accounts.

As a newly established organisation with charitable
status, The Friends of Centre Stage (FoCS) used the
period from 16 November 2022 to 31 March 2023 to
focus on how we would build our funds and planning
future expenditure to ensure we maximised our impact
as we moved into this new phase of our existence.
Prior to this period FoCS committed £4,000 worth of
grants allowing 20 children from low-income families to
take part in Centre Stage Theatre Academies (CSTA)
Summer Youth Project 2022 which were debited in
March ’23.
As the charity moved into its first full financial reporting
period, our ability to raise funds, and therefore support
a greater number of students, increased. We were also
able to provide grants enabling students to attend after
school clubs, holiday workshops and main CSTA
academies. In total from 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024
we provided grants that supported 41 students.

	Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	This statement confirms that the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Achievements and Performance

	Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Our biggest, and proudest, achievement of the period up to 16 November 2022 was gaining registration with The Charity Commission, taking The Friends of Centre Stage from an organisation with no legal status to an independent organisation with charitable status. Through the hard work and dedication of the newly appointed board of trustees, this piece of work was achieved in a much shorter timescale than expected. This meant we could focus on setting our future goals for both fundraising and supporting the work of CSTA through funding placements for children and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds and providing resources to help enhance the education for all students. The work undertaken in 2022/23 put the charity on a strong path to continuing to support children and young adults to experience the wonderful world of musical theatre, drama and the arts at CSTA long into the future. Throughout the 2023/2024 period, we put plans in place for additional fundraising activities. We ran our first ever sponsored event, an extremely successful Dance- a-thon. This event saw students from all academies come together at The Woodville Theatre and dance nonstop for 24 hours. We also received our first successful grant applications from The Albury Foundation and The Backstage Trust. With the continued income from our other fundraising activities, this gave us the ability to support the 41 students through our grant funding. Children and young adults that participate in training at CSTA are supported in a nurturing environment to gain knowledge and skills in singing, drama and dance. These skills help build confidence, focus and teamwork that will live with them forever. By continuing our work through our fundraising and grant funding programmes, we believe we are providing a valuable resource to the communities we work within. Students who would otherwise be unable to attend benefit from the same training and opportunities as others giving fairer access and helping support a more confident and rounded group as they move into adulthood.

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period

Cash book accounts 16 November 2022 to 31 March 2023:	Cash book accounts 16 November 2022 to 31 March 2023:
Opening Balance	£9,197.83
Income	£320.70
Expenditure	£4,000
Total Cash at bank and in hand	£5,518.53

1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024

Opening Balance	£5,518.53
Income	£21,209.88
Expenditure	£6,962.86
Total Cash at bank and in hand	£19,765.55
Creditors (CSTA funding for Jan – April 2024 placements to be paid in May 2024)	£5,240
Net assets	£ 14,525.55

Statement explaining the The charity currently has no requirement to hold policy for holding reserves reserves and therefore no requirement for a reserves stating why they are held policy. Amount of reserves held £0 Reasons for holding zero As a charity currently fully run and managed by its board reserves

As a charity currently fully run and managed by its board of trustees with no ongoing financial commitments, The Friends of Centre Stage do not need to hold reserves. This policy will be reviewed annually.

Details of fund materially in deficit	There are no funds in material deficit
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	There are no concerns about the future ability of the charity to remain an ongoing concern.
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	The charities principal source of income, prior to becoming registered came from our fundraising activities. These activities primarily break down into 3 areas as follows: • Bucket collections at Centre Stage Theatre Academy shows • Fundraising sales at academies • Single, one-off donations In the financial year from 1 April 2022 to 15 November 2022 before achieving registered status, FoCS raised £5,798.45 through these methods. Since achieving registered status in from 16 November 2022 to 31 March 2023 our fundraising was limited to fundraising sales at academies which totalled the £320.70 shown in the cash book accounts. In our first full financial year, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, we expanded our fundraising activities to make full use of our registered status. In addition to our tried and tested methods of fundraising we added two further fundraising activities: • Grant funding • Sponsored events With the addition of these activities, income from all charitable activities in this period was £21,209.88, as shown in the cashbook accounts. Of this income, £7,800 were restricted donations from The Backstage Trust and The Albury Foundation for specific projects and £13,409.88 was unrestricted income.

Details of fund materially in
deficit

There are no funds in material deficit

Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern

There are no concerns about the future ability of the
charity to remain an ongoing concern.

The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)

The charities principal source of income, prior to
becoming registered came from our fundraising
activities. These activities primarily break down into 3
areas as follows:
•
Bucket collections at Centre Stage Theatre
Academy shows
•
Fundraising sales at academies
•
Single, one-off donations
In the financial year from 1 April 2022 to 15 November
2022 before achieving registered status, FoCS raised
£5,798.45 through these methods. Since achieving
registered status in from 16 November 2022 to 31 March
2023 our fundraising was limited to fundraising sales at
academies which totalled the £320.70 shown in the cash
book accounts.
In our first full financial year, 1 April 2023 to 31 March
2024, we expanded our fundraising activities to make full
use of our registered status. In addition to our tried and
tested methods of fundraising we added two further
fundraising activities:
•
Grant funding
•
Sponsored events
With the addition of these activities, income from all
charitable activities in this period was £21,209.88, as
shown in the cashbook accounts. Of this income, £7,800
were restricted donations from The Backstage Trust and
The Albury Foundation for specific projects and
£13,409.88 was unrestricted income.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document	Constitution whose only voting members are its charity trustees
How is the charity constituted?	CIO

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	The Friends of Centre Stage
Other name the charity uses	FoCS
Registered charity number	1201041
Charity’s principal address	98 Gates Green Road West Wickham Kent BR4 9DG

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

----- Start of picture text -----
Name of person (or
Dates acted if not for whole body) entitled to
Trustee name Office (if any)
year appoint trustee (if
any)
Chair Acting since 16 N/A
1 [Daniel Joseph ]
Johnson November 2022
Treasurer Acting since 16 N/A
2 [Alison Maria ]
Dawkins November 2022
Trustee Acting since 16 N/A
3 [Melanie Johnson ]
November 2022
Trustee Acting since 16 N/A
4 [Frankie Patrick ]
Fitzgerald November 2022
Trustee Acting since 16 N/A
5 [Lydia Jane ]
Anderson Fitzgerald November 2022
Trustee Acting since 16 N/A
6 [Jane Louise ]
Ramsey December 2022
Trustee Acting since 6 December N/A
7 [Marvin Mark James ]
Smith 2023
8 Vacant Trustee N/A N/A
9 Vacant Trustee N/A N/A
10 Vacant Trustee N/A N/A
11 Vacant Trustee N/A N/A
12 Vacant Trustee N/A N/A
----- End of picture text -----

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date
	Daniel Joseph Johnson	Frankie Patrick Fitzgerald
	Chair	Trustee

	13 January 2025