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2025-10-31-accounts

PLAYING FOR CAKE

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR 01 NOVEMBER 2024 - 31 OCTOBER 2025

FOR THE YEAR 01 NOVEMBER 2024 - 31 OCTOBER 2025
CONTENTS Page
SECTION A: REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS 2
SECTION B: STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT 3
SECTION C: OBJECT AND ACTIVITIES 5
SECTION D: MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CHARITY 6
SECTION E: FUTURE PLANS 16
SECTION F: FINANCIAL REVIEW 17
SECTION G: DECLARATION 20
Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts 21
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2025 22

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SECTION A: REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS

Charity name

Playing for Cake

Registered charity number

1205912

Charity’s principal address

37 Alexandra Road, Sheringham, Norfolk NR26 8HU

Names of the trustees who manage the charity

Dr Tina Blaber (Founder) Jodie Claxton Terence Cooke Jamie Fisher Richard Grieve (resigned 06/05/2025) Melanie Isherwood (appointed 14/07/2025) Debbie Neale (appointed 14/07/2025)

Bank

Lloyds Bank plc, PO Box 800, Tredegar Park, Newport, South Wales NP10 8SB

Independent examiner of the accounts

Jonathan Saunderson, Little Mount, Links Road, Mundesley, Norwich NR11 8AT

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SECTION B: STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

• GOVERNING DOCUMENT

Playing for Cake (PfC) adopted a Charity Commission Foundation Model Constitution for a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), whose only voting members are its trustees, on 3 October 2023. This came into effect at confirmation of PfC’s charity registration on 27/11/2023. There were no subsequent changes to the governing document.

• POLICIES

PfC has policies governing conflicts of interest and loyalty, the control and monitoring of private benefits, rates of pay for connected persons (i.e. trustees or people connected to them who are engaged to provide goods and/or services over and above that which should be reasonably expected of them), data protection, equity, diversity and inclusion, internal financial controls, the allocation of reserve funds, safeguarding, volunteering, and environmental sustainability.

There is a timetable in place to ensure that all these policies are reviewed on a rolling programme and at least annually.

A health and safety policy is not required by law, however PfC is mindful of our duty of care and has procedures in place to minimise risk and ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of all involved in the delivery of our activities (trustees, volunteers, session leaders, support musicians and those engaged to provide professional services on a self-employed basis).

• APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEES

Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a minimum term of two years and must be elected under the terms of the constitution. In selecting individuals for appointment as trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration and governance of PfC.

• ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND DECISION MAKING

The trustees meet quarterly. A register of interests is maintained, and “declarations of interest” is a standing agenda item at the beginning of trustee meetings.

The trustees exercised the option, under the terms of the constitution, not to appoint the officers of chair, secretary and treasurer. Trustees chair meetings in rotation. A treasurer is not needed at present because there is a Finance Manager, who also takes minutes at trustee meetings, negating the need for a secretary.

There are currently 34 volunteers involved in both the development and delivery of our activities and the day-to-day running of PfC. This includes 6 trustees, 12 people who regularly help out at sessions, and 16 members of Sheringham Ukulele Band who deliver sessions in local care homes and other community settings, responding to requests that PfC does not have the capacity to meet.

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PfC does not directly employ anyone but does engage individuals to provide professional services on a self-employed basis. These are:

The engagement of trustees (namely Tina Blaber) to provide professional services was considered appropriate under the terms of PfC’s Policy for the Control and Monitoring of Private Benefits which states:

The charity may engage the professional services of its trustees and connected persons provided:

Where trustees or connected persons are engaged to provide goods or services, the charity will:

It was further agreed that Tina Blaber would be paid at the same rate as all other S4H practitioners for the delivery of sessions and at the same rate as administrative professionals for development work.

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SECTION C: OBJECT AND ACTIVITIES

• OBJECT

The charitable object of Playing for Cake is: for the public benefit to advance health and relieve sickness of people of all ages and abilities primarily in (but not limited to) North Norfolk by providing community singing, music-making and creative activities which promote proven mental, physical and social health and wellbeing benefits and, by extension, provide support for family, friends and carers, including through the provision of online resources.

• MAIN ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT IN RELATION TO THIS OBJECT

In fulfilment of this purpose, PfC provides public benefit by:

  1. Promoting better health and wellbeing for people of all ages and abilities to assist in the healing of mind, body and spirit.

  2. Helping people with a range of physical, mental, emotional and social health conditions to alleviate symptoms and better manage a specific condition and/or general health and wellbeing.

  3. Assisting the recovery of people who are sick, convalescent, disabled or infirm and providing support and comfort to them and/or their carers.

  4. Facilitating social interaction and helping people to gain confidence, through improved peer-support networks, to participate more fully in society.

  5. Contributing to the vibrancy, sustainability and quality of life of our local communities through improved health and wellbeing and increased social and cultural opportunities.

  6. Advancing the collective knowledge and understanding of the benefits of participation in creative activities to health and wellbeing, specifically, but not exclusively, in the relief of those with Parkinson’s, Dementia, Alzheimer’s and lung disease.

PfC strives to achieve these benefits by:

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SECTION D: MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CHARITY

2024-25 was a hugely productive year for Playing for Cake. We started on a solid financial footing, thanks in the main to the National Lottery grant, and good progress was made towards achieving a sustainable future for PfC.

Organisational development and capacity building were central to this, as were enhancing our profile and reputation, consistently and appropriately monitoring and evaluating our work, and solid financial management, with careful budgeting and planning allowing us to strengthen our financial resilience.

Significant achievements were also made in regard to our core purpose - to deliver community-based Singing for Health (S4H) sessions in Norfolk - with existing groups sustained and new groups trialled and, in some instances, continued. In no small part to the growth and enthusiasm of our partner, the Sheringham Ukulele Band (SUBs), we were able to respond to significantly more requests for services, including from several new community events, groups and care homes.

Another success story was beginning to fulfil our ambition to engage with a younger audience as participants, volunteers and session leaders.

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING

We would be nothing without our people - our volunteers, SUBs members, session leaders, support musicians, paid workers and last, but by no means least, our participants/beneficiaries. We are therefore committed to do the very best we can to acknowledge their invaluable contributions, be warm and welcoming to all, and to respect every voice.

• VOLUNTEERS and TRUSTEES

We provided two opportunities for volunteers to meet, mingle/socialise, have their say and contribute to the development of PfC and their group/sessions:

  1. The PfC Social and AGM on 22 February 2025 to which all on our mailing list were invited. Several volunteers said how useful it had been to meet people from other groups, put names to faces, gain a better understanding of everything that goes on behind the scenes, how much things cost, how the money is spent and how invaluable their donations are to long-term sustainability. The event concluded with a joyful SUBs sing-along!

  2. A Volunteer Consultation Meeting on 20 March 2025 was attended by 14 volunteers, who were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of PfC in the form of a fun interactive game facilitated by our Media and Comms Manager.

  3. The discussions highlighted that PfC had a strong foundation of friendliness, creativity, and community spirit. However, areas such as communication, diversity, and volunteer onboarding could benefit from more attention. Introducing light-touch structures, such as an induction programme or improved communication tools, could address some of these challenges without compromising the organisation's welcoming and flexible ethos. At the same time, efforts to diversify participation and ensure all volunteers feel valued would further strengthen the group's inclusivity and impact. We started to address some of these issues including the development of a new Volunteer Welcome Pack.

Our volunteers (most of whom started their PfC journey as participants) have contributed in many ways in relation to helping us run our sessions or take part in community events, for example setting up and

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clearing rooms, organising refreshments, handing out percussion instruments and song sheets, welcoming participants and looking after those with health challenges, providing transport for those in need, printing song-sheets, collating feedback, taking photographs and videos and attending community events as advocates for PfC.

In recognition of this, we worked hard in 2024-25 to retain and nurture our volunteers (e.g. to take on more responsibility or fulfil personal goals) whilst, at the same time, encouraging others to join our community:

As part of our ambition to encourage participants and volunteers to lead songs and/or sessions, we welcomed the initiative of one of our long-standing support musicians, Amanda Crofts, and Tommy Watson Bell from the SUBs, to form The Cupcakes . They have actively encouraged others to join, including Lorna McKail (who volunteers at The Hub), Terry, one of our trustees and Eve Clarke, who is a regular participant and who, as a result of being involved in PfC, periodically leads sing-alongs in her care home, Shannock Court. To support this, PfC booked The Cupcakes to deliver sessions at The Hub, Cameo Café and in West Wood Care Home.

We are very grateful for the commitment and dedication of our trustees, all of whom make significant contributions above and beyond attending meetings.

Tina Blaber’s passion for embedding Singing for Health in local communities continued. She maintained a watchful eye on all our activities, kept us on track, and supported all members of the team. As Founder of PfC, she has the vision; one that she shared by giving several talks and presentations.

Jodie Claxton, a mental healthcare professional, took responsibility for advising the trustees on policies for safeguarding, volunteering and data protection. She ensured that appropriate amendments were agreed to reflect changes in legislation, particularly in the area of sexual harassment. As a result of her diligence, all PfC emails display a suitable disclaimer and three volunteers completed the Gov.uk ‘Prevent Duty’ training as part of our safeguarding procedures.

Terry Cooke regularly attended several groups on a weekly basis, providing valuable support for both participants and session leaders, and provided invaluable feedback to the team to ensure that standards were maintained and new session leaders/volunteers felt supported.

Jamie Fisher is working towards starting a new group for people wanting to learn to play the guitar. The SUBs started in a similar way and his ambition is that the guitar group will develop, over time, into something similar i.e. performing at PfC sessions and independently at local community events such as Sheringham Carnival.

We were disappointed that our new trustee, Richard Grieve (appointed on 01/10/ 2024) resigned on 01/05/2025; but were thrilled to welcome two new trustees to the board in July 2025. Debbie Neale and Melanie Isherwood had already shown their commitment by assisting with the organisation of their North Walsham group and completing Save a Life training with the Royal Life Saving Society UK. Melanie also made cake-themed lanyards for all the PfC team, and has plans to craft other items to raise funds

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for the group; and Debbie Neale is providing valuable advice on how to make song-sheets and print appropriate for partially sighted.

• SHERINGHAM UKELELE BAND (SUBs)

To maintain our strong relationship, the unofficial SUBs organiser, Jane Crane, attended trustee meetings and the Volunteer Meeting, and all the SUBs were invited to attend, and perform at, our AGM. SUBs remains an integral part of PfC: SUBs doing Sing-along-a-SUBS gigs under the PfC banner in local care homes and at community events alleviates pressure on our session leaders, thus allowing us to respond to more requests for our S4H services. PfC providing governance (including admin support and insurance) for SUBs means that its members can concentrate on the joy of playing and performing, which in turn strengthens the group’s viability.

In 2024-25 SUBs performed 39 gigs (compared to 13 in 2023-24). They sustained a membership of 16 (with some older members dropping off but being replaced by new members). The group started to meet half an hour earlier to teach new beginners the basics so that they could instantly feel more involved. Funds raised from their gigs allowed them to purchase equipment, and fleeces for all members, to improve sound quality and comfort at outdoor performances.

• SESSION LEADERS

In 2023-24, we welcomed several new community musicians/choir leaders to the PfC team. Our ambition in 2024-25 was to hold onto them (!) by offering them opportunities to lead sessions, maintaining appropriate levels of pay, and continuing to support their training and development.

We now have a pool of 8 session leaders, 7 of whom, with PfC support, have completed The Musical Breath: Singing for Lung Health (SfLH) training. Not only has this helped us develop our team and capacity in general, but it has also helped progress PfC’s ambitions to develop a localised Norfolk & Waveney SfLH network. We now have a presence in North, South and West Norfolk as session leaders have set up and run ongoing ‘ Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voice s’ (SBBV) groups in these districts.

Session leaders with limited availability have led occasional sessions or as holiday/illness cover; others have been engaged to deliver regular groups; but all have been employed. We maintained the rate of pay of £100 per session plus travel and printing expenses.

We continued to encourage session leaders (not least by paying for their time and expenses) to represent PfC at various (appropriate to their group and/or interest) health, social care and community meetings, networking events, conferences and local community events; thus contributing to their professional development as S4H practitioners.

A networking meeting was held in February 2025 where these practitioners were invited to contribute to the development of a 'gold standard' S4B delivery framework to differentiate S4B practice from general wellbeing groups, and to ensure strong links to 'medical models' (i.e. Pulmonary Rehabilitation practices and techniques) are maintained. S4B has now been re-branded to SBBV, as mentioned above, to help promote and raise awareness of the fundamental relationship between better breathing and SfLH principles and practices and with helping maintain and improve speech quality (such as is used in speech and language therapy). We hope this will help attract participants from target groups such as stroke survivors and people living with Parkinson’s, for example.

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• SUPPORT MUSICIANS

Feedback suggests that it was particularly beneficial to new session leaders to be supported by an experienced PfC person who knows the dynamics of the group and the appropriate S4H methods. Our regular participants had commented that they like to see a familiar face and that sessions can be more engaging when there are support musicians providing instrumental back-up. Session leaders have also told us how helpful they can be with their session planning too. Thus in 2023-24, we introduced the payment of a small fee to support musicians, principally (but not exclusively) Amanda Crofts and Suzanne Williams. This continued in 2024-25, acknowledging the invaluable work they do in supporting sessions and session leaders, organisationally, musically, socially and in facilitating maximum enjoyment and engagement from participants.

• PAID WORKERS

In July 2023, we recruited an experienced Financial Administrator, Rosie Glasgow. Her contract expired in May 2024 but retaining the post for five years for 8 hours per week was embedded into the National Lottery grant proposal. A new 4-year contract was agreed with Rosie (promoted to Finance Manager) from 1 May 2025 to 30 April 2029.

In May 2024, we recruited a specialist Media and Comms Manager, Daniel Spencer. A priority for the trustees in 2024-25 was allocating funds to retain Daniel’s services. A new contract was agreed with Daniel from 1 October 2025 to 30 September2026.

In 2023-24, the National Lottery grant enabled us to engage a S4H Development Officer for 1 year. Tina Blaber, as PfC’s Founder, our principal advocate over the years and the person most informed about, and experienced in, developing and delivering S4H services, was the obvious choice for undertaking much of this work. A new contract was agreed with Tina from 1 October 2025 to 30 September2026 enabling her to support PfC’s management and underpin core practices and operations while making connections across our communities, local organisations and national movements to help develop our services and help more people.

• PARTICIPANTS

Our participants/beneficiaries are our inspiration and motivation. Many have been with us since the first ever PfC session and several regularly attend more than one group, in some cases travelling some distance to be there. Quite a few participants also attended our AGM and have supported the endeavours of our team members’ work outside PfC, for example enjoying live music events at individual performances (such as some of Tina’s gigs) and Cutting the Mustard gigs (of which both Tina Blaber and Jamie Fisher are members).

Our participants are actively involved in planning groups and session content, via their ongoing feedback about preferences etc and we have a wide range of ages and abilities represented amongst them. It is a magical thing to see people in wheelchairs, people living with dementia and their carers/loved-ones alongside children with Downs Syndrome, people with lung health issues and mental health conditions all meeting up for the joy of just singing together (a sight regularly seen at our Wednesday community, café-style drop-in sessions!). We are particularly proud of the fact that no one is excluded from benefiting from our activities by continuing the practice, throughout the year, of delivering sessions on a “pay what you can afford” basis, with a suggested voluntary donation of £5.

In 2023-24 the average group size was 13; in 2024-25 this increased to 15. Our mailing list has also grown to over 150 people! There is no better indication of the value of our work and the loyalty of our participants!

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ENHANCING OUR PROFILE AND REPUTATION

By retaining Daniel Spencer as our Media and Comms Manager, great strides were made in raising our profile, improving our professionalism, and strengthening our reputation. This work included:

Perhaps the most important work was the development of a marketing strategy, which fed into a new visual identity (brand) for PfC and a relaunch of our website, developed in partnership with marketing professionals Oliver Milner-Smith and Ian Pegg of Eggcup Web Design Ltd. This led to the term Caker to reflect our community.

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Another key way in which we raised our profile was by ensuring we had a presence at a broad range of local, regional and national meetings and events, giving presentations where invited, including:

This work is essential, not only in promoting our work, but also in:

MONITORING AND EVALUATING OUR WORK

We have always endeavoured to consistently and appropriately monitor and evaluate the impact of our services to ensure health outcomes are achieved. This was particularly important in 2024-25 to secure the second year (from 1 May 2025- 30 April 2026) of the National Lottery grant. This was contingent on us achieving the end of year one targets and match funding as outlined in our original funding application. Many hours were spent on collating the data and shaping this report (available on request), which led to the release of funds for year two of the five-year grant.

The following page provides some examples of feedback from the AGM and Social.

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Why did you get involved with PfC?
o It made me happy
o Community singing is fun and rewarding
o I was lonely
o It is so friendly and joyous
o Strangely enough, cake!
o To improve my breathing
o Because everyone is welcomed
o I was looking for new friends
o Because of lung problems/damaged vocal
cords. Now I do open mics. THANKS PFC!		 What do you like about PfC?
o To see the smiles on faces when they sing
o Wonderful people getting together
o A relaxed atmosphere
o Singing, meeting people and friends
o The variety of things on offer
o Lots of singing!
o Good accessibility
o PfC has helped me control my breathing
o Helped with meditation
o If you were down before you’ll be up after
o Leave with that “feel-good factor”
o Boosts immune system
o I always leave feeling we’ve had a fun time in a
group of like-mindedpeople!
What support does PfC offer you?
o Socialise
o Helps me feel better, happiness
o Helps to keep me conscious of how to
improve my breathing
o Motivation to get out of the house
o Meeting other people in a friendly place
o Happy, happy group		 What can PfC do better?
o Spread the word via Nextdoor and Facebook
o Doing great as it is at this moment in time
o Not much! Keep up good work!
o Provide basic introduction to breathing techniques
o Words for songs
o Weekly sessions on Tuesdays North Walsham
o Words written for people with limited vision
o Specialist work with/for Parkinsons speech
We invited people to describe PfC in one word and here’s what they said:

DELIVERY OF COMMUNITY-BASED SINGING FOR HEALTH (S4H) SESSIONS IN NORFOLK

Taken as a whole in 2024-25, Playing for Cake and SUBs directly supported over 380 individuals in 251 S4H sessions across 28 groups/community settings , providing 5,020 opportunities for participation . The average group size was 15 participants and the sessions were held in 13 towns/villages across 5 local authorities.

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PfC delivered 251 sessions (a 66% increase on the 151 sessions in 2023-24). Our S4H services fell into 5 main strands of work:

1) Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (SBBV)

These sessions comprise songs tailored around breathing exercises using established A+LUK and The Musical Breathing techniques with the primary aim to have fun singing with others while learning exercises that help you adopt better breathing habits for everyday life .

In 2024-25 we were able to sustain and develop our existing groups in Sheringham, Long Stratton and North Walsham, complete the pilot in Fakenham, deliver a taster and new pilot in King’s Lynn, and start a new trial group in Norwich.

We delivered 112 SBBV sessions in total:

2) Singing for Health, Wellbeing & Fun! (SFHWF)

These are our café-stye, drop-in sessions at The Hub in Sheringham Little Theatre. They comprise mainly sing-a-longs but, depending on the session leader, may include some songs with parts or rounds. They are promoted as being dementia-friendly, open to all ages and abilities, carers as well as the cared-for.

40 sessions were delivered weekly during term-time, after school to encourage engagement with families, children and younger people.

To facilitate diversity and provide a range of musical genres (with the intention of providing something for everyone), sessions were led by established PfC session leaders and support musicians, as well as a broad range of our new session leaders and other local community musicians and groups.

Where not directly involved in leading the sessions, Amanda Crofts attended every single one as a support musician. Her feedback on what worked and what was less well-received by our regular participants will be invaluable to future programming.

3) Singing for Health, Harmony and Happiness (SFHHH)

This is a new title to differentiate between the café-style of The Hub sessions and our more structured sessions, which invariably include some songs with rounds or parts for harmony singing, and which are

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hosted in community halls. Our SFHHH sessions aim to deliver the broader set of physical, social, mental and emotional health benefits that singing and music-making with others can provide:

A total of 39 SFHHH sessions were delivered:

4) Tailored Sessions for Health and Support Groups

In addition, PfC delivered 16 tailored sessions for 5 groups which provide support for people living with specific health conditions and their carers:

5) Community Engagement

PfC/SUBs delivered 42 demos, sing-along or busking sessions at:

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10 of these groups/events were new to PfC/SUBs and were in response to requests. This is important work in reaching out to the wider public who may not be aware of our services or how they could improve their quality of life.

We also delivered 2 arts and crafts workshops in tandem with our Hub programme: Easter Bonnets and a Shake, Rattle and Roll percussion workshop. These were part of our ongoing endeavour to attract younger participants and thus were scheduled in school holidays and promoted as family-friendly. Whilst numbers were lower than we had hoped, the participants included young children, parents and grandparents.

ENGAGING WITH A YOUNGER AUDIENCE

In 2024-25 we maintained strong links with Sheringham Little Theatre and continue to work towards supporting the resurgence of their Youth Choir, which folded due to financial constraints.

We recruited a member of the Youth Choir, Attia Law (aged 16), in October 2024 on a work experience basis to attend and support at all The Hub sessions. Attia remained with us until August 2025 when, sadly, her college timetable precluded her ongoing involvement. Throughout her time with us, Attia rarely missed a session, and her perspective at the Volunteer Meeting was invaluable. She is missed!

Perhaps the greatest achievement in 2024-25 was our accreditation as a Trinity College Arts Award Centre and the wonderful work of Saffron Summerfield, who worked closely with two young people, both home-schooled, to achieve their Bronze Awards. One of these, Timmy (aged 8), presented his showcase in the form of a rap video posted on Facebook; the other, James (despite his arm being in a splint), performed with Saffron at our Hub session at the end of October:

A third candidate, Harry, is nearing completion of his award and his grandmother sent this:

I just wanted you to know how much Harry has enjoyed the music course and how much he's got out of doing it. He's thoroughly enjoyed working on his music and has had a lot of positive feedback about this, but perhaps more important has been the feedback he's had about him as a person. We all know it's hard being fifteen so to hear that people appreciate him for who he is has really boosted his confidence. It's been great for me to see him grow and achieve so much with expert guidance while allowing him the autonomy to forge his own path. Many thanks, Harry's Grandma.

All three young people had the opportunity to record their original soundscapes in a professional studio with Paul Thomspon and to design their own CD sleeves. PfC has committed funds for the ongoing development of the Arts Award project.

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SECTION E: FUTURE PLANS

Our plans are centred on continuing, effectively and efficiently, to embed and build high quality, fit-forpurpose S4H services across Norfolk. By providing PfC with the capacity, resilience and resources (financial and human), we will ensure a sustainable future for PfC and become an exemplar of what can be achieved through community partnership for the benefit of residents' health and wellbeing.

Our priorities for the 2025-26 financial year will be to:

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SECTION F: FINANCIAL REVIEW

As stated, sustained and diligent financial and risk management, with careful budgeting and planning and robust policies and internal financial controls (reviewed annually), allowed us to strengthen our financial resilience.

The security of National Lottery funding for 5 years enabled us to retain professionals to provide essential organisational/management services and S4H practitioners and support musicians to deliver sessions. This in turn allowed us to consistently deliver high-quality sessions on an ongoing and regular basis; and this helped us to retain our long-standing participants whilst attracting new beneficiaries. Participant donations are critical to the sustainability of groups, contribute greatly to the match-funding required for most grant applications and, as unrestricted income, enable us to continue to operate when grant funding ends.

The impact of the National Lottery funding is huge; but it must be reiterated that the grant remains restricted for:

It does not cover:

This is where earned and unrestricted income from donations and commissioned services/sales play a crucial part. Participant donations are voluntary but, the better the experience, the more people are inclined to put money in the donation bucket and/or to bring their friends and family to sessions. The larger the group and the greater the quality of experience, the bigger the collection. The same applies to referrals and the direct commissioning of our services e.g. from the NHS and affiliates. In short, participant donations, referrals and commissioned services/sales remain the best way to secure a sustainable future for PfC.

The allocation of reserve funds was reviewed by the trustees and the following policy was agreed.

Reserves Policy

Wherever possible, participant donations will be held as restricted funds to enable the continuation of sessions/groups when grant-funding comes to an end and for as long as the donations allow, in fulfilment of PfC’s ongoing commitment to participants and session leaders.

The breakdown in Note 9 on page 28 shows the total held at 2024-25 year-end as £11,840.53. This represents accumulated donations brought forward, donations collected in this financial year minus any

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session costs not covered by grants (namely some venue hire, publicity and travel expenses, and refreshments, song sheets, and percussion instruments).

PfC will continue to allocate surplus unrestricted income and Project Administration Fees (calculated at £18.90 per session delivered) to its Reserve Funds, principally to enable the retention of key posts but also to allow the charity to operate for 6 months without grant aid. Thus, the total held in reserves should not exceed 50% of the organisational and governance costs, excluding specific grant-funded projects. At year end the Reserve Funds held are £5,391 with the total allowable under this policy being £8,275.85.

Wherever possible, PfC will continue to build up Project Funds to allow the charity to respond to requests for new services.

Unrestricted funds held on 31 October 2025 are therefore:

General Funds
Project Funds
Reserve Funds
Total		 1,299.09
850.00
5,931.00

8,080.09

Responsibility for this policy and its implementation lies with the Finance Manager and ultimately with the trustees. This policy will be reviewed regularly, at least every 6 months, and updated as required.

• KEY FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Restricted funds are those which may only be used for the specific purpose/project for which they were given. These are usually grants but also include the income and expenditure for SUBs and the remaining funds available to them and participant donations from sessions/groups at which donations were collected.

Unrestricted funds are those which can be used for any purpose in furtherment of the charity’s object, namely earned income from sales and participant donations (where not received for a specific ongoing project).

Total income decreased by 12.10% from £66,791 in 2023-24 to £58,706 in 2024-25.

The allocations for unrestricted income were:

The allocations for restricted income were:

Combined restricted and unrestricted income allocations were:

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This demonstrates:

Conversely, participant donations in 2024-25 accounted for 23% of our project delivery costs (compared to 24% in 2023-24); so thank you to all who consistently put coins into our coffers!

Total expenditure increased by 54% from £43,259 in 2023-24 to £66,651 in 2024-25.

The allocations for unrestricted expenditure were:

The allocations for restricted expenditure were:

Combined restricted and unrestricted income allocations were:

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This demonstrates:

  1. A 10.5% decrease in organisational costs, despite the retention of posts and the significant investment in the new identity and website.

  2. A 97% increase in expenditure on service delivery for the public benefit. This is to be expected given commitment to Youth Development and the Arts Award project plus the 66% increase in service delivery. The per session delivery cost increased from £164 to £171, which can be attributed, in the main, to increased spend on printed publicity materials.

  3. A £1,237 increase in the cost of sales which is due, in the main, to the SUB’s expenditure on equipment. Without this, there would have been a 100% reduction in cost of sales.

  4. The overall trend of spending over 73% on charitable activities is as it should be for a charity committed to providing public benefit.

The overall position is that PfC made an operating surplus of £3,735. With £11,680 of restricted funds spent, this equates to a £7,945 loss overall. PfC carries forward £8,080 unrestricted funds for core costs, post retention and to allocate to projects when needed. Restricted funds held at year end are £17,877. The allocations for these restricted funds are shown in Note 9 of the financial statements.

• GOING CONCERN

After making appropriate enquiries, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

SECTION G: DECLARATION

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

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees by

Tina Blaber, Trustee & Founder 24 / 11 / 2025

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Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts

Report to the trustees/ members of: PLAYING FOR CAKE

Charity no: N/A

On accounts for the year ended: 31 October 2025

Set out on pages: 22 -28

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/10/2025.

As the charity trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

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:

Date: 08 / 12 / 2025

Name: Jonathan Saunderson

Address: Little Mount, Links Road, Mundesley, Norwich NR11 8AT

Page 21

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2025

PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT

Unrestricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 Total Funds Total
Funds
2024-25 2024-25 2024-25 2023-24
Note £ £ £ £
INCOME FROM:
Grants 1 281 41,892 42,174 56,603
Donations 2 0 0 0 191
Bank Interest 118 0 118 0
Commissioned Services and Sales 3 1,410 1,102 2,512 1,598
Charitable Activities 4 3,222 10,681 13,902 8,399
TOTAL INCOME 5,031 53,674 58,706 66,791
EXPENDITURE ON:
Organisational Costs 5 1,249 14,517 15,766 17,618
Charitable Activities 6 0 48,725 48,725 24,755
Costs of Sales 7 47 1,327 1,374 148
Governance 8 0 786 786 738
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1,296 65,354 66,651 43,259
NET PROFIT / LOSS 3,735 -11,680 -7,945 23,532
Project Admin Fees to Post Retention
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 0 0 0 0
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS:
Total funds brought forward 4,345 29,557 33,902 10,370
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 8,080 17,877 25,957 33,902

Page 22

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Note
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash in current account
Cash in savings account
NET ASSETS
CHARITY FUNDS
Restricted funds
9
Unrestricted funds
10
TOTAL FUNDS		 2024-25
£
7,839
18,118
25,957
17,877
8,080
25,957		 2023-24
£
33,902
33,902
29,557
4,345
33,902

The financial statements were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by

Dr Tina Blaber

Page 23

Note
Grants
1
National Lottery Community Fund
Asthma + Lung UK
Tesco Stronger Starts
West Norfolk Councillor Community Grant
Norfolk Community Foundation
Promotion of English Trust
North Walsham Community Shop
Poors & Ploughlet Charitable Trust
Awards for All
Geoffrey Watling Charity
Sheringham Town Council
Total
Donations
2
Individual Gift Aid Donations
Total
Commissioned Services and Sales
3
Supporting Women & Activity Network (SWAN)
North Walsham Dementia Support Group (Cameo)
West Wood Care Home Sheringham
Talks and Demos
- NNDC Civic Event
- Voluntary Norfolk @ The Forum
- North Walsham Wellbeing Festival
Sale of Goods/Instruments
SUBs
- Crab & Lobster Festival
- Sheringham Creativity Week
- Sheringham Girl Guides
- Sheringham Day Services
- St David's Nursing Home Sheringham
- Shannock Court
- Halsey House Care Home
- Sheringham Carnival
Total		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total
Funds
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2023-24
£
£
£
£
40,299
40,299
19,278
19
106
125
1,625
150
850
1,000
113
638
750
0
10,000
0
1,210
0
1,730
0
500
0
19,960
0
1,500
0
800
281
41,892
42,174
56,603
191
0
0
0
191
300
300
300
645
645
525
300
300
0
210
50
50
0
32
32
0
13
13
0
70
70
178
50
50
0
75
75
0
30
30
0
40
40
50
350
350
250
383
383
85
120
120
0
54
54
0
1,410
1,102
2,512
1,598

Page 24


Note
Income from Charitable Activities
4
SUBs
In Kind (Volunteer Time)
In Kind (Venue Hire)
Participant Donations
4.1
Gift Aid
Total
Participant Donations
4.1
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (SH)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (NW)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (S Norfolk)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (W Norfolk)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (NOR)
Singing for Health, Harmony & Happiness (NW)
Singing for Health, Harmony & Happiness (SH)
Singing for Health, Harmony & Happiness (AYL)
Singing for Health, Wellbeing & Fun (SH-HUB)
PayPal
Easyfundraising
Other Participant Donations
Total
Organisational Costs
5
Organisation
5.1
Staffing Costs
5.2
Marketing & Promotions
5.3
Subscriptions
5.4
Training
5.5
Total
Organisation
5.1
Office Supplies & Stationery
Insurance
Web Hosting & Domain
Total		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total
Funds
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2023-24
£
£
£
£
142
175
317
406
1,500
2,340
3,840
1,935
0
20
1,580
8,166
9,746
6,038
0
0
3,222
10,681
13,902
8,399
111
630
741
1,057
461
2,610
3,071
1,438
136
772
908
316
58
331
390
15
13
71
84
0
254
1,442
1,697
1,289
9
50
59
0
25
140
165
0
370
2,099
2,470
1,790
0
35
142
19
161
89
0
10
1,580
8,166
9,746
6,038
406
295
701
1,164
800
10,646
11,446
12,694
0
3,414
3,414
497
42
0
42
174
0
163
163
3,089
1,249
14,517
15,766
17,618
207
207
844
295
295
262
199
199
58
406
295
701
1,164

Page 25

Note
Staffing Costs
5.2
Recruitment
Financial Administrator
Singing for Health Development Officer
Media & Comms Manager
Consultancy Fees
Total
Marketing
5.3
T-Shirts
Advertising
Newsletters
Website Development & Visual Identity
Printed Publicity and Pull-Up Banners
Total
Subscriptions
5.4
Acapella App
Voipfone
Zoom
Total
Training
5.5
Voice Basics: Foundations for Singing for Well-Being
Sing to Beat Parkinson's
Singing for Health Network Webinar
The Musical Breath: Singing for Lung Health
Musical Ideas for Carers to Use with Older People
Mentoring New Practitioners
Filmmaking Workshop
Total
Costs of Charitable Activities
6
Session Delivery
6.1
Youth Development
6.2
Total		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total
Funds
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2023-24
£
£
£
£
0
0
757
3,915
3,915
3,791
3,154
3,154
4,355
800
3,441
4,241
1,890
135
135
1,900
800
10,646
11,446
12,694
244
244
175
110
110
0
396
396
68
2,250
2,250
0
414
414
254
0
3,414
3,414
497
0
42
42
42
0
0
132
42
0
42
174
0
35
0
87
0
27
0
2,450
0
40
140
140
450
23
23
0
0
163
163
3,089
0
42,925
42,925
24,755
0
5,799
5,799
0
0
48,725
48,725
24,755

Page 26

Note
Costs of Charitable Activities
6.1
Session Leader Fees
Support Musician Fees
Travel/Mileage Expenses
Venue Hire
Volunteer Costs
Props & Session Materials
Refreshments
Monitoring & Evaluation
Publicity
Project Administration
Total
Youth Development
6.2
Work Experience
Trinity College Bronze Arts Award
Sheringham Youth Choir
Total
Costs of Sales
7
Creative Lives Consultancy
Purchase/Repair of Goods
North Walsham Dementia Support Group
SUBS
Total
Governance
8
Independent Examiner
Charity Commission and HMRC Registration
AGM Costs
Preparation of Annual Report and EoY Accounts
Total		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total
Funds
2024-25
2024-25
2024-25
2023-24
£
£
£
£
25,100
25,100
15,100
2,425
2,425
1,025
3,882
3,882
2,117
4,810
4,810
3,669
112
112
285
617
617
391
192
192
113
509
509
519
630
630
178
4,648
4,648
1,359
0
42,925
42,925
24,755
725
725
0
5,038
5,038
0
37
37
0
0
5799
5799
0
0
135
0
13
47
47
0
1,327
1,327
0
47
1,327
1,374
148
0
9
0
144
147
147
0
639
639
585
0
786
786
738

Page 27

Restricted Funds Balances at YE
9
Grants:
National Lottery Community Fund
National Lottery Awards for All
NCF Love Norfolk Fund
NCF Sheila Ann Day Fund
Geoffrey Watling Charity
Asthma + Lung UK
Sheringham Town Council
Post Retention:
Media & Comms Manager
Groups/Projects:
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (SH)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (NW)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (S Norfolk)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (W Norfolk)
Stronger Breaths, Brighter Voices (NOR)
Singing for Health, Harmony & Happiness (NW)
Singing for Health, Harmony & Happiness (SH)
Singing for Health, Harmony & Happiness (AYL)
Singing for Health, Wellbeing & Fun (SH-HUB)
SUBs
Youth Development/Engagement & Arts Award
Total
Unrestricted Fund Balances at YE
10
General funds
Project Funds
Reserve funds
Total		 2024-25
-174.71
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
3,627.90
829.07
3,128.97
1,056.20
508.56
521.40
1,966.67
50.15
140.25
3,639.26
11,840.53		 2023-24
3,938.22
10,543.78
4,118.00
5,000.00
1,500.00
625.00
800.00
201.05
544.13
234.40
0.80
915.98

484.32
651.42
601.02
1,982.35

17,877.09
1,299.09
850.00
5,931.00

8,080.09
29,557.09
1,798.80
1,650.00
896.00
4,344.80

Page 28