## ## |Bedford Players Trust
Report ofthe Trustees
Forthe year ended 31 March 2022|Bedford Players Trust
Report ofthe Trustees
Forthe year ended 31 March 2022| |---|---| |The Trustees,
who are also Directom,
present
their report and financial
statements
for the year|| |ended 31 March 2022.|| |Structure. Governance
and Management|| |Bedford Players Trust was incorporated
on 7 August 1984,as a company
limited
by guarantee|no.| |1839042.not having a share capital and being a registered
charity
in England
and Wales no.|| |290124.The governing
document ofthe charity is the Memorandum
snd Articles ofAssociation|as| |emended.|| |The Trustees
continue to carry out regular
skills audits to Identify gapa in the diversity
ofthe board
and continue
to seek to address that. Two new trustees were appointed
during
the year snd a
further three have been approached
to join the board sometime
in 2022/23. In the meantime
they
have formed the basis ofan Advisory
Group giving specialist support
in the areas of
Environmental
Development
and Regeneration,
Youth Arts and Venue Management
and
Accessibility
and Cultural
Development.
This wi**l**l the**n** bring the Board membership
to 9, all of
whom are volunteers.
The Board is responsible
for the strategic development
ofthe Charity and
the day to day management
is vested
in the management
team presided
over by a trustee
acting
Charity
f�ogow|| |as Chief Operations
Officer In an unpaid
capacity.|| |This year saw an improvement
In the activities ofthe
the diflicultles ofthe|| |previous
two years due to the pandemic.
In late 2020 the trustees took the decision, due to|| |uncertainty
caused
by the pandemic
and the on/off approach
by government
reganling
national|| |and local lockdowns,
not to open the venue to the public until September 2021.This meant that|| |for almost 6 months ofthe year the venue remained
closed indoors.
In order to compensate
for|| |this snd with financial
support
from DCMS through
the Arts Council we were able to ornate
an|| |outdoor space in which we were able to deliver a novel limited outdoor programme.
This proved|a| |success though was hampered
in being able to develop to its full potential
due to the|| |unpredictable
weather. We continued
to deliver events online during
this period, something
which|| |we continue to do as part ofour overall offer.|| |The closure duing the early part ofthe year meant that one ofour more interesting
projects, Game|| |Play Festival, had to be postponed
again and eventually
ended
up as a series ofsmall events,|| |some face to face and the majority online. This project had been funded
by the Arts Council and|| |the Foyle Foundation
and we are grateful
for their forebearance
in the delay in the delivery ofthe|| |project.|| |The Charity was able to continue
its operations
due to receiving
support
from the Arts Council
in
the form ofthe Cultural
Recovery Funds as well as from other fenders, The Harpur Trust and
Sylvia Wsddilove
Foundation
UK. The Charity also continued
to receive, when appropriate,
firn|| |support
from Government
through
the local authority
ofthe Local Government
Restrictions
Grant.|| |As a result ofthis funding
the Charity was able to continue
all its freelance contracts. The trustees,|| |having commissioned
the preparation
of reports from an outside expert on the provision
of Youth|| |Theatre
during the larier part of2020/21, were able to prepare a successful
bid for funding of|| |youth theatre provision
to The House of Industry. The intention
had been to commence the|| |delivery
ofthe project, which included
an Inclusive
Youth Theatre across the age ranges of8to|18| |and Future Arts Leaders (a part time paid engagement
for 3 young people aged 18to 25 to gain
experience ofthe arts indutry
in a working
venue),
in September
but due to the timing ofthe grant|| |itwas decided to defer until September 2022 and to seek further funding
to extend the project.|| |This was successful
and funding
was obtained
from the Foyle Foundation
in April 2022, this being|| |the second grant from the foundation
for which the trustees
are very grateful.|| |During tlie year we have been able to continue the delivery ofa number ofprojects and to develop|| |new ones by securing
further funding
for them from the Bedfordshire
and Luton Community|| |Foundation,
to enable the long running
youth programme
ofgaming
activities to continue,
the BFI|| |and ICO for an increasing
programme
and to provide the opportunity
for young people to gain|| |experience
in film programming
through
the Young Film Programmers
project; National
Loffery|| |Community
Fund towards a project leading
up to Christmas
to tackle loneliness
and isolation.|| |The Trustees would therefore
like to thank the following
funders
for their support
over the difficult|| |period caused
by the pandemic
and the team st The Place for their hard work and enthusiasm
in|| |obtaining
funding
to enable the charity to continue
and develop its work:|| |Arts Council England|| |The Harpur Trust|| |Report ofthe Trustees (continued)
Forthe year ended 31March 2022||| |---|---|---| |The Trustees continue to monitor and review the risk assessment
process as an on-going||| |requirement.
The pandemic
obviously
had an effect on the operation ofthe Charity,
particularly||| |with regard to the venue, which was unfortunate
as it followed the Charity's
most successful year.||| |However, the Trustees' confidence
that the Charity would recover during 2021/22 has been borne||| |out. The recovery has been slower than had been hoped for prlmarily
due to three factors: - a||| |continued
reluctance ofour audience to return to attending
indoor activity (a situation
experienced||| |by many venues
within the industry),
the delivery ofa new concept for the venue - sn outdoor||| |space which had been particularly
adapted for that purpose - which was not helped
by the||| |unpredictable
weather
over the summer,
and the lack of small scale product available. The laNer||| |started to improve
early in 2022 and has led to us being able to iiefiver a full programme
ofwork||| |from both community
and professional
companies
during
the fourth quarter
ofthe year and into||| |2022/23.
The||| |Charity considers that
it is in a good position to continue
its development
as a highly recognised||| |asset in the cultural
life ofthe town and to swiftly recover its financial
posiTion pre-pandemic
in||| |2022/23.||| |Objectives and Activities||| |The principal
activity and the objemive ofthe charitable
company
isto educate the public in the||| |Arts and to further the development
ofpublic appreciation
in the Arts.||| |Achievements
and Performance
ofpublic benefNs||| |The charitable
company
has continued
its business
of promoting
theatrical
projects as well|as|| |developing
its cooperation
and close working
with
other organisations
in the Arts
and
Cultural||| |sectors
and
the
Third
Sector. Theatre
productions
took place
on an
increasing
basis
from||| |September
2021 and attendances
increased
slowly
from the time that the venue
reopened.
The||| |productions
are widely
promoted
throughout
Bedford and the surrounding
areas
by a variety||of| |means.
The
Charity,
through
members
of the
Marketing
Team,
has
developed
a working||| |relationship
with a number ofcommunity
based arts publications
to get to s different
audience|and|| |to support
community
activity.
I/se of the meeting
rooms
at The Place Theatre
continues||to| |increase
by established
groups
representative
of the wider
community
and
there has been||a| |noticeable increase
in the number
of schools and specialist dance and theatre schools using|the|| |venue
in recent months,
something
which we believe is likely to continue,
in view of the interest||in| |re-booking
and new enquiries.||| |The Charity has addressed
pubgc benefit
purposes
including:||| |- Promoting
theatrical projects
in an environment
which encourages
amateur
artists to develop.||| |- Of/ering
opportunities
for a broad range of people from different backgrounds
to get involved
in||| |the Arts.||| |Widening
its reach into amas of Bedford's diverse community
to engage
with them through
the||| |sharing ofarts snd culture as well as showing
that the venue
is open and available
to them.||| |- Continuing
to adopt a policy ofaffordability
so that as few people as is practical are excluded
by||| |price.||| |In carrying out these objectives the Trustees have complied
with the duty in Section 4ofthe||| |Charities Act 201I to have due regard to the Charity Commission's
pubfished
general and relevant||| |sub sector guidance
concerning
the operation ofthe Public Benefit requirement
under the Act and||| |in particular to its supplementary
public benefit guidance
on fee charging.||| |Financial Review 8 Reserves Policy||| |It is the long term policy ofthe Trustees to increase the reserves ofthe charity.
During this year||| |the general reserves decreased
by E2,686 (2021:E1,386increase). The general
fund ofE21,856||| |(2021:E13,889)at the year end is represented
by the assets and fiabfiities as set out in the||| |Balance Sheet.||| |Investment
Pogcy||| |The Trusts investment
policy is to keep its funds
in the Trust's
main bank account.||| |Related Parties||| |As set out in note 10the charity has a close relationship
with Bedford Theatre Trust Ltd with the||| |majority ofthe current trustees
also being trustees ofthat charity. During the year the Trust||| |received a grant ofE1,250(2021:E8,160)from Bedford Theatre Trust Ltd.||| ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ||Notes|Unrestricted|||Total|Total| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||General|Restricted|||| |||Fund|Fund||2022|2021| |||6|6||6|6| |Incoming resources||||||| |Activities
in furtherance|of|||||| |the charity's ob)ectives:||||||| |Rental income||17,314||17,314||1,350| |Grants||153,343|40,175|193,518||179,397| |Other||24,106||24,106||4,563| |Ticket sales||55,281||55,281||| |Total incoming resources||250,044||||| |Resources expended||||||| |Fundraising
and publicity||31,234||31,234||16,879| |Direct charitable
expenditure:||||||| |Theatre expenditure||159,076|50,828|209,904||153,005| |Promotions||23,840||23,840||2,578| |Wages and salaries||27,327||||| |||241,477||||| |Governance
costs||600|||600|600| |Total resources expended||242 077|50828|292|905|183,924| |Movement
In total funds|for the year|7,967|(10,653)|(2,686)||1,386| |Transfer between funds||||||| |Fund balances brought
forward||||||| |at 1 April||13,889|20,406|34,295||32,909| |Fund balance carried forward||||||| |at 31March|7,8|21,856||3||| |The notes on pages 8to 11form part ofthese financial statements.||||||| ## |as at 31March 20|22|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||Notes||2022
8||2021f| |Fixed assets||||||| |Tangible assets||||35,885||41,474| |Current assets||||||| |Debtors||5|3,233||9,915|| |Cash at bank and in|hand||47,155||43,917|| ||||50,388||53,832|| |Creditors: amounts|falling due|||||| |within one year||6|(15,096)||(17,291)|| |Net current assets||||35,292||36,541| |Total assets less current||||||| |liabilities||||71,177||78,015| |Creditors: amounts|falling due|||||| |after one year||||(39,568)||(43,720)| |Net assets||||31,609||34,295| |Represented
by:||||||| |Unrestricted
funds||||||| |General fund||||21,856||13,889| |Restricted
funds||||9,753||20,406| |||||31,609||34,295| ## ## ## ## |||||||General|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||fund|Restricted|2022 Total|2021 Total| |||||||E|E||E| ||Fundraising|and|publicity:||||||| ||Marketing
and promotion|||||31,234||31,234|16,879| ||Direct charitable||expenditure:||||||| ||Utilities|||||11,272||11,272|4,787| ||Depreciation|||||6,073||6,073|5,998| ||Repairs and|maintenance||||9,392||9,392|16,073| ||Other theatre|expenditure||||107,933|50,828|158,761|107,873| |||||||134,670|50,828|185,498|134,731| ||Other charitable||expenditure:||||||| ||Bank charges|||||2,549||2,549|325| ||Insurance|||||1,199||1,199|2,400| ||Sundries|||||3,497||3,497|2,690| ||Arts co-ordinator|||||16,728||16,728|12,324| ||Promoiions|||||23,119||23,119|2,578| ||Entertainment|||||721||721|| ||Wages and salaries|||||27,327||27,327|10,862| ||Training|||||433||433|535| |||||||75,573||75,573|31,714| ||7 t
t
3
it|hi|3|hit||247 477|55828|282355|783324| ||Governance|costs||||600||600|600| ||Total resources expended|||||242,077|50,828|292,905|183924| |3|Governance|costs|||||||| |||||||||2022|2021| |||||||||E|E| ||Independent|examiner's|||fees|||600|600| ## |4|Fixed assets||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||Leasehold|Fixtures|Total| ||||building|and fittings|| ||||improvements||| ||Cost||||| ||As at 1 April 2021||142,408|20,046|162,454| ||Additions|||484|484| ||As at 31 March 2022||142408|220531|162,938| ||Depreciation||||| ||As at 1 Apdil 2021||101,756|19,224|120,980| ||Charge for the year
As at 31 March 2022||5,696
III7,452|377
~9,|6,073
127,053| ||Net book value||||| ||As at 31 March 2022||34 956|929|35,885| ||As at 31 March 2021||40 652|822|41 474| |5|Debtors|||2022|2021| |||||6|| ||Trade debtors|||3,233|| ||Other debtors and accrued income||||9,915| |||||3,233|9,915| |6|Creditors: amounts|falling due within one year||2022|2021| |||||6|| ||Bank loans and overdrafts|||5,180|5,179| ||Trade creditors|||7,732|10,997| ||Other creditors and accruals|||2,184|1,115| |||||15,096|17,291| ## |fo|rthe year e|nd|ed 31|M|arch 2022|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |7|Movement|In|funds|||||||| ||||||||Movement for the||year|| |||||||Balance ss|Incoming|Resources|Transfers|Balance as| |||||||at 1 Aprg|resources|expended||at 31 March| |||||||2021f||||2022f| ||Unrestricted||general|fund||||||| ||Other grants|and donations|||||153,343|(153,343)||| ||Rental income||||||17,314|(17,314)||| ||Other income||||||24,106|(24,106)||| ||Ticket sales||||||55,281|(55,281)||| ||Leasehold
improvements||||and|||||| ||other net assets held|||by|fund|13,889||7,967||21,856| ||Restricted|funds||||20,406||||9,753| |||||||||||31609| ## ## ##