independentarts.org.uk Registered Charity No. 297474 Company No. 02147908 ## **Contact us:** Independent Arts 48/49 High Street Newport Isle of Wight PO30 1SE ## **Phone:** 01983 822437 **Email:** info@independentarts.org.uk **Web:** independentarts.org.uk ## **Trustees** J Jones B J Marriott Dr D J McMullen B M A S Rouse G R Ruck W R Varley D Lindsay G Barnetson - joined 27th January 2022 J Heany - joined 27th January 2022 J Pook - joined 27th January 2022 ## **Company Secretary** L E Gagliani ## **Independent Examiner** Elizabeth Dack FCA FCCA Senior Statutory Auditor Harrison Black Limited Pyle House 136/137 Pyle Street Newport Isle of Wight PO30 1JW **Opposite** : Creative Café, textile prints **Front cover:** Picture Play, a new family learning programme this year ## **Contents** - **4 Welcome from Chair of Trustees** - **5 Introduction from Chief Executive** - **6 Changing lives through arts: Our impact** ## **8 Our community** ## **10 Our ambition** - **11 A year at a glance** - **14 Our achievements: Creating a place** - **16 Our achievements: Programmes & Participants** - **18 Our achievements: Family Learning - Picture Play** - **20 Our achievements: Looking out from Lockdown** - **22 Our achievements: Keeping people connected** ## **26 Who we are** - **31 Future plans** - **32 Accounts for the year ended 31st July 2021** 2021 3 ## **Welcome** Welcome to the latest annual report from Independent Arts, a charity that has been using the arts to improve people’s wellbeing, quality of life and to reduce social isolation on the Isle of Wight since 1987. This report covers the charity’s financial year August 2020 to July 2021, giving insight into our work and impact as well as our finances during that time. Adjusting to the shifting restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic during the year, we kept our focus on how best to reach people at a time when we were all more isolated than before, and we were ready to reintroduce in-person activities in the community and in care homes, in a safe environment as soon as permitted. We are enormously grateful that funders and supporters have shown understanding and flexibility, enabling Independent Arts to adapt projects and activities to suit the changing times. Opening our Creative Hub in Newport High Street has been a major highlight. This versatile space serves as our offices and as a venue for some of the charity’s creative sessions, as well as being an exhibitions, meetings and events space. Though much of the charity’s income comes from grant funding, it’s been heartening to see people on the Isle of Wight supporting Independent Arts through local fundraising. I was delighted to be among those taking part in 70 Mile May, raising funds for the charity by walking the equivalent of the Island’s coastline during the month of May and I signed up to be part of the charity’s team at The Wight Proms where Independent Arts was the associated charity (this took place in August, postponed from 2020). Our Chief Executive, Lisa Gagliani MBE, has continued to lead the charity expertly. As trustees we continued our monthly monitoring meetings with her throughout the year. I am grateful to her, my fellow trustees, the staff team, volunteers, funders, individual donors and everyone in the community who supports Independent Arts, enabling us to continue making a positive difference to people’s lives on the Isle of Wight through arts. _Wendy Varley, Chair of Trustees, Independent Arts_ 4 2021 ## **Introduction** This has been a transformational year for Independent Arts, as I hope you’ll see from the report and accounts shared in this document. The striking thing for me personally (and perhaps I shouldn’t admit to this!) is that the transformation of the charity in scale and scope for the people we helped, took place in a year of such uncertainty and distress, as the Covid-19 pandemic dragged us through a full year of change and disruption. I am enormously proud to lead Independent Arts. During this year the support of our team, our volunteers, our trustees and our arts practitioners has been magnificent. Together we have creatively supported hundreds of island residents, young and old, lonely and anxious, isolated and anguished – who together, have learnt new skills, stretched existing ones and produced the most amazingly beautiful and provocative pieces of art, which in turn tell stories. The icing on the cake came in two ways. The first was the agile and supportive role our trustees played in bringing our ambitious new Creative Hub to existence. The second was the growth and ambition in our team, both our own staff and our partnerships, which has helped us break out of our ‘own bubble’ to become a true player in the Isle of Wight civic and cultural society, with a role to fulfil in the social change that the Island desperately needs and deserves. As we write this report, we are working with some amazingly talented artists of all genres, to deliver life-changing experiences, to islanders both very young and very old. This is not something that has just happened overnight. It’s the result of huge amounts of thought, care and preparation. For this, and for their trust in my somewhat adventurous style of leadership, I thank my colleagues, trustees and friends. _Lisa Gagliani MBE Chief Executive_ 2021 5 ## **Changing lives through arts: Our impact** Independent Arts is an Isle of Wight charity, established in 1987, using the arts to improve wellbeing, quality of life and to reduce social isolation. We believe that art is for all stages of life, and we deliver vital services across all ages, mindful of the range of needs: • Often older people on the Isle of Wight are amongst the most vulnerable, including those in care homes and those on the fringes of social care. • A higher than average number of children on the Island live in poverty (34%). • Mental health services are stretched, which can affect people of any age. • Arts and wellbeing are interlinked, and we focus on bringing arts to those who might not otherwise be able to benefit from them. SingAbout. Photo: Julian Winslow ## **Arts for life, arts for all:** ## **Creating connections:** People from all walks of life are experiencing loneliness and isolation. We use the power of the arts to bring them together in a supportive and collaborative environment. **Arts for health and independence:** Participation in the Arts is an effective way to support people on the fringes of the health and social care system, supporting rehabilitation and reducing hospital admissions. **Empowering individuals:** We believe in the potential of people often overlooked or seen as disadvantaged. 6 2021 ## **What people say about us** 2021 7 ‘Seascape’ by Columbus House residents, Time & Tide ## **Our community** This report covers the period from 1st August 2020 until 31st July 2021 – the whole period impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In our 2020 Report, we highlighted the adaptions made to existing programmes and acknowledged the vital importance of these to ensure that the most vulnerable were supported. We also highlighted recent successes in securing grants to engage in regeneration, cultural development and to deliver a new programme to support the mental health of young people. The pandemic was never going to be “finished” when the second lockdown restrictions were lifted in early December 2020, when the Isle of Wight became a rare Tier 1 destination, only to be plunged into Tier 4 by the end of the same month. Throughout the year, we reached our community through a blend of telephone, post, digitally enabled and outdoor activities, alongside socially distanced indoor programmes from our new Creative Hub in Newport. It became the norm to be agile, adaptable, and collaborative. This new normal has in many ways benefitted our charity and the way we interact with our community. Our participants have responded and grown and so has our breadth of partners who include other third sector organisations with whom we share a mission to support the most vulnerable, and those who champion arts and culture, not just for pleasure – but as a genuine antidote to the alarming rise in cases of poor mental health. The Isle of Wight, through geographic separateness, has recognised weaknesses, but also poses an interesting opportunity for future investment in services and experimentation in policy. We have a high proportion of the working population engaged in seasonal hospitality or social care; our health service on the Island suffers from years of inadequate investment. There is a very high proportion of our population living alone over the age of 65, one of the highest rates of people living with dementia, and one-third of all children on the Island living in poverty. A perfect storm indeed. 8 2021 ## **The island’s situation** “Generational gaps had never been so apparent, with those most vulnerable being ordered to stay at home and isolate from all, including their families.” Healthwatch Isle of Wight, Covid-19 One Year On, June 2021 The Isle of Wight is one of the places in southern England where employment recovery from Covid-19 is likely to be hardest. Build Back Fairer: The Covid-19 Marmot Review, map p48. The Health Foundation; The Institute of Health Equity “Loneliness can have a hugely damaging impact on our mental and physical health. Chronic loneliness is hard to get out of and it will take time and support for people to recover and rebuild their social connections up again.” Robin Hewings, Programme Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness “Feeling lonely was the factor most strongly associated with reporting high anxiety – people who ‘often or always’ felt lonely were almost five times more likely to report high anxiety than those who ‘never’ feel lonely.” Coronavirus and anxiety, Great Britain: 3 April 2020 to 10 May 2020, Office for National Statistics 58% of young people said it was true (23%) or sometimes true (35%) that they had felt terribly alone and isolated. 86% of respondents, who were engaged in education, felt that the outbreak of Covd-19 had made their education either much worse or a bit worse. Isle of Wight Youth Trust Covid Survey 2.0, 2021 “Majority of UK adults (71%) think that loneliness is going to be a serious issue beyond Covid-19” Campaign to End Loneliness, Loneliness beyond Covid-19, July 2021 2021 9 ## **Our ambition** Independent Arts began the 2020/21 year with cautious optimism. We were cautious because we knew that in this environment it would be hard to plan for the year ahead with any certainty. At the same time, we were buoyed by the levels of support we had seen from our local community and funders and were confident that we were working well as a team to manage the changing circumstances in which we have found ourselves. ## We set ourselves the following challenges: **1. To Plan** for and respond to the easing of pandemic restrictions, so that when it’s safe to resume face-to-face delivery of community and care home creative sessions, we are ready. Delivering this will mean taking into account new ways of working while social distancing measures are still in place, albeit, we hope, in a more flexible manner that allows us to restart work with more vulnerable and isolated people. **2. To Start** or continue delivery of funded projects that have had to be halted during the pandemic. While many activities have been taking place remotely, we hope to be going back to more in-person activities in the community in 2020/21. **3. To Diversify** Independent Arts’ income. We received funding to develop an income diversification strategy in Jan–March 2020. As a result, the trustees have agreed to investments in community fundraising and to improve the visibility of our charity that will be initiated in 2020/21. **4. To Establish** a long-term Creative Hub for the charity in Newport town centre to accommodate our offices, workshops, exhibitions and to provide a community arts space. as we emerge from a pandemic that has changed our community. We are committed to playing our part by working with partners and showcasing how the arts can create a more connected, healthy and thriving Island. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Art and Identity
Portraits Time & Tide
part of the first
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## **A year at a glance** Q1: August, September, October 2020: - Blended delivery with digital and socially distanced live workshops in the community and outdoor events at care homes, much one to one contact retained by telephone. More partnership working, more appreciation of digital inequality island wide. Care homes supported with creative boxes and garden gigs, keeping morale up. - Digital interns from Keele University complete their work with us on digital communications and tackling health inequalities – helping us to see the need for our work among the very young as well as the elderly. 200 paid hours funded by Santander. - Plans for new Creative Hub taking shape. - Branching Out – a programme to support the frailest to gain confidence in venturing out, starts. Funded by IOW Council. Q2: November, December 2020, January 2021: - 513 participants supported in three months via workshops and activities. - Work with schools virtually to complete the Lottery funded School Ties programme draws to a close. - We start our first Crowd Funder campaign with Aviva, which is successful and greatly aids our creature comforts for the new Creative Hub. - Works completed at 48/49 High Street, we open the doors cautiously to the public just before Christmas and we decide against an official launch for the time being. All necessary Covid health and safety measures in place. - Mindfulness walks take off, postal packs continue to delight, welfare calls continue. - New Christmas Shop online launches. - Lockdown 3 starts 26/12. - Staff wellbeing is a huge consideration; funder The Tudor Trust supports with a £2,000 wellbeing fund which is a huge boost to morale. - Vision, values and communications strategy work undertaken to ensure we maximise the opportunity for greater visibility. - The Arts Council awards us £30,000 to tackle loneliness among older people, so work on the Digging Deep programme commences Jan-June, reaching hundreds of people and expanding our impact significantly. Local history themed. (see page 22.) - Staff continue to engage with a wide variety of community partners including NHS/CCG, social housing providers, foodbanks, Living Well team. Creative Café, Pastels Still Life workshop 2021 11 - 48 workshops per month Workshops for Wellbeing delivered to care homes using video featuring poetry readings. - InTouch2 programme piloted over 12 weeks to connect care home residents with iPads to enable them to communicate with friends and family in a supported way. - 240 creative packs delivered to schools. - Pigeon Post delivers 186 messages between schools and care homes. - 101 visits to children’s online exhibition. - Looking Out From Lockdown, funded by Daisie Rich Trust, launches with dozens of individuals of all ages uploading their lockdown art to the site. - Veterans Outreach sessions attract regular participants via live Zoom workshops. ## Q3: February, March, April 2021: - Mindfulness walks and welfare calls continue in and around Newport. - Small groups of direct delivery start – Creative Café, Anxiety Café, DanceMakers – some of them outdoors, all socially distanced. - SingAbout and Singing for Breathing continue on Zoom. - The Hub team work from our new 3-person office, whilst most staff continue to work from home. - Small group work continues and a new programme for families starts, funded by the IOW council, called Picture Play, which creates magnificent artwork for our Creative Hub window. - We are awarded a two-year grant by Historic England, for Renew Newport which includes chairing the cultural consortium to deliver a variety of exciting place-based arts activities. ## Q4: May, June July 2021: - 2,250 participants recorded across various programmes, face-to-face, in the final quarter of the year. 200 continue to participate remotely via creative packs, YouTube and Zoom. 515 residents in care homes enjoy Workshops for Wellbeing. - All staff and volunteers trained in Covid-safe protocols in readiness for easing of lockdown restrictions. - 70 Mile May, our first community fundraising challenge, sees supporters including trustees, walking the equivalent of the Isle of Wight coastal path during the month. £1,600 raised. - New scale-up plan launched to the team based on scaling up Capacity, Capability, Communication and Creativity. - Recruitment for extra hub coordinator, programme manager and arts officer to enable 6-day per week opening of our Creative Hub. - Team begins planning for a new schools’ art programme called Creative Biosphere of the Island to be delivered in 2021/22. - Looking Out From Lockdown tours the island through the summer with a 30-piece show of artwork – starting in Ryde, moving onto Ventnor, Cowes, Freshwater and completing at our Creative Hub attended by Susie Sheldon Lord Lieutenant. Funded kindly by WightAid. (See page 20.) - We hear that we’ve been successful in our NHS Mental Health bid, to deliver a new programme aimed at 13-30 year olds, Reconnect, to start delivery in October 2021. 70 Mile May, supporters walked all over the Isle of Wight for us 12 2021 ## **Why arts?** “The remedy for feelings of Isolation and loneliness that too many suffer can lie in the shared experiences that creativity and culture have always provided for our communities.” Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England 2021 “… the majority of respondents (82%) perceive their arts engagement to be linked with feelings of social connectedness at least some of the time.” Arts engagement support social connectedness in adulthood: findings from the HEartS Survey. BMC Public Health (2021) Perkins, R., MasonBertrand, A. Tymoszuk, U. et al “The health sector needs to increase its trust in arts and health programmes. Trust comes from a solid, evidence-based theory of change, rigorous evaluation and proof of efficacy and cost-effectiveness.” Arts Enterprise for Social Purpose “Participants who attended a higher number of activities were more likely to report increased satisfaction with life.” Impact of Creative & Cultural Activity during the pandemic on loneliness, isolation & wellbeing. Imogen Blood & Associates and Thinking Practice for Arts Council England, 2021. Picture Play, painting workshop “There is emerging evidence that social prescribing can lead to a range of positive health and wellbeing outcomes for people, such as improved quality of life and emotional wellbeing … 59% of GPs think social prescribing can help reduce their workload.” National Academy for Social Prescribing “Art helps us access and express parts of ourselves that are often unavailable to other forms of human interaction. It flies below the radar, delivering nourishment for our soul and returning with stories from the unconscious. A world without art is an inhuman world. Making and consuming art lifts our spirits and keeps us sane. Art, like science and religion, helps us make meaning from our lives, and to make meaning is to make us feel better.” Grayson Perry, Artist 2021 13 ## **Our achievements: Creating a Place** ## The Creative Hub Support from the Tudor Trust has led to the most exciting development of all: our new Creative Hub. This is a wholly new venture, a new location (a few hundred yards along the High Street from our previous pop-up gallery) and offers bigger premises. It enables us to meet & greet, run workshops and is a fully functioning gallery. We negotiated a very competitive lease for six years with a three-year break clause. The site had been a Monsoon/Accessorise fashion shop and had not been refurbished for 20 years. Trustees signed the lease in October 2020 and a procurement process took place to secure the services of a local firm, who turned changing rooms into office space, converted the toilet to disabled access, built a kitchen for refreshments, completely rewired and replaced 48 light fittings and painted throughout. We also started recruitment and were pleased to welcome Amy Normanton and Kerry Weston as job-share hub coordinators in November. The works were completed in time for us to open our doors to the public midDecember, just before we were thrust back into lockdown – we reopened in April 2021 with socially distanced small group work. Since 19th July 2021, we gradually re started all our face-to-face activities. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## Impact The Creative Hub, even when it was closed through lockdown, helped to raise the profile of Independent Arts. Our hub coordinators focused on social media communications and our social prescriber/ community connector Elaine kept up conversations via Zoom. We vacated our office at Suite 3, 30 Quay Street during lockdown and have relocated our office for hybrid working to the Creative Hub, which has also become our registered address. There has been such a buzz in the community and the sector support organisations since we moved to the Creative Hub. Our relationships with the Age Friendly Isle partners have expanded and we have been asked to lead the Cultural Consortium for the High Street Heritage Action Zone for Newport, thanks to funding from Historic England. In June we were awarded our first contract from IOW NHS to deliver low level mental health support to young people (13-16yrs, 16-19yrs and 19-25yrs) at the Creative Hub and we have since been awarded a contract from Isle of Wight Council to deliver a violence reduction intervention aimed at teenagers outside of school hours. Since 19th July, we have been able to offer a Covid-safe zone for community singing, Anxiety Café and Creative Café. We have been commissioned by Isle of Wight Council to deliver a new programme aimed at disadvantaged families called Picture Play, which has been delivered to home schooled young children and their families. Taking place on Saturday mornings, it provides a vibrant activity in clear view of the High Street and has created some colourful displays. Left: Major refurbishment at the Creative Hub, late 2020 Right: Opening soon L-R Hannah Griffiths, Lisa Gagliani, Ralph Ridler Looking Out From Lockdown celebration event. Photo by Julian Winslow ## Case study – Participant L Since the Creative Hub opened at the end of April it has become a place that people feel comfortable dropping into for creative, activities but also for conversation and signposting. Participant L has been attending Creative Café sessions for seven years and was referred to our Community Connector service just before the first national lockdown as she needed help with compulsive hoarding. L was given support throughout lockdowns in the form of regular befriending calls and invitations to participate in our projects in a socially distanced way. L is now much more active in the community. She attends weekly Creative Café sessions, SingAbout sessions and has been to several pop-up sessions we have run with outside creatives and local historians. She has built friendships with new participants and volunteers who have joined the projects post-lockdown. ## Participant L _“I have been coming along to Independent Arts activities for a number of years and it was wonderful to watch the new Creative Hub coming to life during the last lockdown. I live alone and just seeing the team moving furniture or putting up shelves as I walked past on my way to the shop or on my daily walk was really inspiring and it helped me look forward to a time when we could meet again. I delivered some of the craft activities that I did during lockdown as part of Creative Café and was so proud to see them displayed in the window for everyone to see and stop and look at. I would stop and have a chat with the staff in the Hub when I passed. I felt really lucky to be given a sneak preview just before it opened! The Hub feels like my second home and I am able to come to more activities now everything is close by to me in the town centre.”_ **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## **Our achievements: Programmes and participants** Before the pandemic, Independent Arts was running face to face community arts programmes, benefitting health, wellbeing and forging connections. Thanks to the hard work of our team and practitioners, our community groups such as DanceMakers, Creative Café, SingAbout and Singing for Breathing moved online during the pandemic, via Zoom and our YouTube channel, with tech support for anyone struggling. This also meant we could continue to engage freelance arts practitioners, who created online content and led hundreds of workshops. ## Singing for Breathing Our Singing for Breathing group supports individuals with COPD, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, cystic fibrosis and pneumonia. It has also proved helpful for people whose breathing has been affected by Covid-19. This was delivered via Zoom and continues to be offered part face-toface from our Creative Hub and via Zoom for those who need to remain at home. ## Anxiety Café Our focus for all sessions was maintaining connections and conversation for 56 participants. We delivered a mix of weekly zoom, outdoor, and indoor face to face socially distanced sessions through the year. ## DanceMakers DanceMakers is a gentle, creative dance programme for the 65+ age group, suitable for all abilities, which can help to improve balance, coordination, muscle strength, memory and confidence. The sessions are led by experienced dance practitioners and supported by volunteers. ## SingAbout Our popular singing for wellbeing groups in several towns across the Isle of Wight attracted 480 registered participants, providing over 20 hours of free musical activities to older people every week, before Covid-19. During the pandemic, SingAbout migrated to Zoom with some success, but was reinstated in Newport, Lake, Ryde, East Cowes and Freshwater as soon as restrictions allowed. In the year to come we plan to reinstate further sessions where there is demand. Prior to the pandemic, DanceMakers took place weekly at four towns across the Isle of Wight, providing 30 hours of participatory activities to 130 older people each month. It has been reinstated in Freshwater, Newport and Sandown as restrictions eased. ## Creative Café Creative Café is a weekly group in Newport, providing a range of arts activities led by experienced practitioners. The aim of Creative Café is to improve health and wellbeing via access to creative activities including iPads, digital photography, music, movement, sewing and textiles, and visual art and craft. 16 2021 ## DanceSense DanceSense is our specialist dance programme for people with neurological conditions. We work closely with the NHS’s Neurological Department and our specialist practitioner is trained by Dance for Parkinson’s. Partial three-year funding was secured from a private trust with a particular interest in this area. DanceSense caters for twenty adults per week, providing them with free weekly dance sessions, led by an experienced practitioner and supported by trained volunteers. Participants may self-refer or be referred through the hospital’s neurological staff or via GPs. Top left: Various activities, something for everyone Top right: 8 Miles, Art Ecology field workshop. Photo by Julian Winslow Bottom: Singing For Breathing. Photo by Julian Winslow 2021 17 ## **Our achievements: Family learning - Picture Play** ## Picture Play This is an exciting new programme created to appeal to families and delivered in our new Creative Hub on Saturday mornings. Launched in May 2021, it was initially funded via an Early Years grant from Isle of Wight Council. The aim was to work with ‘families in need’ to engage younger and older children with a carefully thought-out arts curriculum sustained over 12 weeks; to include talks by local experts, storytelling, working digitally with iPads for older children and a chance to try many arts techniques and basically have fun getting messy! By working together as a group, the families and their arts practitioners achieved some remarkable visual effects, which in turn were finessed and presented professionally to display in our windows at the Creative Hub. We have been thrilled at the public response to these stunning works. ## The first 12-week cohort discovered and were inspired by artists including - Henri Rousseau, the 19th Century French painter who created beautiful images of exotic jungles and jungle creatures. Rousseau never travelled out of France himself and was completely self-taught. - African American artists Ted Ellis and Faith Ringgold – quilt making. - Sculptural investigation inspired by the The Musicians of Bremen. Top right: Picture Play, puppet making Top left: Picture Play, jungle diorama Bottom: Picture Play, window display inspired by learning about artist Henri Rousseau 18 2021 ## What we learnt from working with families - We can improve how we design tasks so that they are wholly inclusive for all age groups and abilities. - We can better arrange our group to encourage and enable verbal participation and contribution. - We can build on offering more skills that parents can use outside of the project too. ## Surprises - We were surprised by the group’s willingness to continue with and finish activities at home. - We were surprised by the children’s ingenuity (inventing their own folds and designs for Origami creatures). - We were surprised by parents setting up visits and activities outside the project for their children (dinosaur beach walk and a second visit from conservationist Tracy Dove) meeting a key funder outcome for selfdetermination and co-production. ## Observed impact within the group - Early gains in confidence and participation for both parents and children, these are hard won for both. The group size being small and intimate has helped enable this, but so too the willingness of the group to explore the range of (frequently new to them) creative mediums they have taken home to experiment and have fun with. - Early signs of self-determination for this group – organising activities beyond the project and stemming from learning and activity within the project. - Occasional sibling conflicts are being gently diffused, encouraging collaboration and working together. 2021 19 ## **Our achievements: Looking Out From Lockdown** Early in 2021 we were introduced to HM Lord-Lieutenant Susie Sheldon JP, who had convened a group to discuss how arts might help people on the Isle of Wight, plunged from Tier 1 pre-Christmas to total lockdown again at the start of January. During 2020, at the start of the pandemic, we had created an online gallery called the Festival of Islesolation, as a pivoted grant funded programme, thanks to the Arts Council. The group’s idea was to create a portal for island residents to upload their many and varied creative ‘projects’, which could form a collective memento of the resilience of the people and provide inspiration to all. It was not a huge leap therefore, for Independent Arts to create additional space on the site for a new online community gallery, which we called Looking Out from Lockdown. Thanks to funding support from the Daisie Rich Trust, to pay for the necessary technical development, the project was able to start within a month, and soon hundreds of submissions were pouring into the site. Everything from gardening, to baking, pottery, photography and of course, painting and even poetry – and some amazing videos – were uploaded as the site took off. Young and old alike sent entries in, and soon the Looking Out from Lockdown project was greatly admired. The emerging challenge as vaccines were rolled out was to create opportunities to venture out. We did this by asking the original group led by Susie Sheldon, to pick some of their favourites from all the various categories, that they’d most like to see ‘live’. Then, thanks to special funding support from WightAid, a touring live show of 30 artworks was curated, and carefully chosen partner venues agreed to host the exhibition through June/July, culminating in a grand finale at our Creative Hub in Newport in September. All chosen artists and their families were invited and presented with certificates of achievement. The tour venues were Monkton Arts in Ryde, The Baptist Church in Ventnor as part of Ventnor Fringe, Freshwater Coffee House, Medina Publishing in Cowes and the Creative Hub in Newport. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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HM Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight Susie Sheldon presents certificates of achievement to participating artists Photos: Looking Out From Lockdown, touring exhibition (various sites) ## **Our achievements: Keeping people connected** ## Living independently/Tackling loneliness As the country emerged from the first lockdown, the Isle of Wight Council awarded funding towards a project we created called Branching Out, which whilst short-lived (due to November and January lockdowns) did enable some much-needed contact with participants, who through telephone calls, had been identified as especially anxious about re-emerging into any kind of social activity because of the risks of Covid. We planned for these to be small groups, delivered out of doors with gentle exercise and creative themes around nature. We were grateful for the use of the Riverside Centre for the delivery of this project, until it was commandeered as the Covid Vaccine Centre in Newport. By then, the Arts Council England had asked us if we would like to design a programme aimed at tackling loneliness, so we considered the needs of the Branching Out participants and developed another new programme called Digging Deep, a social history themed postal pack and magazine style project, which built on ideas formed through a 2018 Arts Council funded programme called Time & Tide. We used arts and culture to connect people to their community and local heritage and culture. We opted to run three areas of activity for Digging Deep: Creative Chronicles, The Heritage Packs and The Local History Boxes. ## Creative Chronicle A three-edition magazine featuring articles on local heritage, ideas for creative activities to do at home, local history walks, puzzles and games and art history. These kinds of articles had proved popular in previous projects, and we felt it was a wide platform to appeal to the broad number of beneficiaries. Readers were encouraged to get involved by submitting articles, suggestions and images for future editions. - 200 physical copies of each magazine were produced and distributed by hand or by post. - We sent 120 hard copies to existing participants of Independent Arts projects who we’d had limited connection with during lockdown. - 50 hard copies were sent out to new participants who we reached through social media, drop-in sessions in our Creative Hub and via local supper services such as Age UK IW. - 30 hard copies were distributed with the Heritage Packs. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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- 118 copies were sent digitally, including by email, website download, spoken word copy QR code (through Sight for Wight) and via our social media. The Creative Chronicle proved popular with participants – passing copies on to friends and neighbours – and those delivered digitally were then forwarded to friends and social groups. Participants noted that passing copies on not only gave people a chance to interact with others again, but gave a chance to talk about articles and take part in activities together. _**“I feel the word ‘thank you’ just doesn't express my gratitude enough. Not only have you given so much to me, but you were also there if I needed someone, and you supported me. The future looks brighter and a lot more fun.”** – Saffron_ DanceMakers, outdoor workshop socially distanced ## The Heritage Packs These were delivered to residents of local supported accommodation schemes and participants that we had been made aware of during lockdown, who had been particularly affected by long term isolation. The boxes covered areas of Anglo-Saxon history on the Isle of Wight. Working with local artist Trudie Wilson, Isle of Wight Council's museums and heritage team and our in-house programmes team, three boxes were produced. Each box contained a DVD with educational content and accompanying booklet, with suggested art projects based on the topics and some basic art materials. A project support assistant then followed up with a phone call to each participant to help them create their piece, chat through the history or offer other support to interact with the project. Digging Deep, heritage packs 2021 23 Staff team picture L-R Kerry Tindall, Joanne Rigby, Hannah Griffiths, Elaine Sheldrake, Nicola Ward 24 2021 ## The Local History Boxes These were designed to be delivered to residents of East Cowes, Cowes and Ryde. Like the Heritage Boxes, each delivery included a booklet of local stories which had been developed by our programmes team, local heritage centres, IW Library service and a local artist and historian Jess Ong. The Local History box gave people a taster of some of the lesserknown history of the area they lived in and encouraged them to discover more and then create an artistic response. Nine boxes were distributed, and the findings will be displayed on the online platform 'The Earth Museum' as well as in Newport Library. Scheme managers were reporting that levels of loneliness and isolation were high, with residents citing a loss in confidence causing their worlds to shrink. People who were once fit and active had seen a decline in physical health due to lockdown, as they were no longer getting out and about. This led to a loss of independence, increased reliance on others and decline in mental health too. We continue to work on reengaging these people with our projects – both Digging Deep and other projects in the area – to help rebuild lost strength and confidence. Digging Deep also brought our team back together and after a year of working remotely, we have been able to bring in additional freelance team members to deliver the work. This helped us look to the future and begin to move towards an emergence from lockdown. ## Longer term impact It was reported by scheme managers that those involved in the Heritage Packs and Local History Boxes have been going out more and interacting more than other residents. We hope this means that these individuals will build improved confidence and wellbeing more quickly than some of their peers. We also know that some readers of the Chronicle planned day trips to visit some of the sites mentioned in articles. Chronicle readers have also become more likely to book back into face-to-face workshops once they were available. We were able to reengage with several residents who we had worked with on Time & Tide. It was great to see that they continued to work on creative projects with the community. One of the sheltered accommodation schemes we worked with had only recently opened. The scheme has brought people from across the Island to new homes. The scheme manager reported that the activities had helped people find their feet in a new town and helped them make new friends and connect with their new neighbours. We hope this will help build long term connections. 2021 25 ## **Who we are** We employ a small core team of ten staff (two full-time; eight part-time). Arts practitioners are engaged on a freelance basis to deliver our wide range of Workshops for Wellbeing in care homes, and to deliver our community projects. During the pandemic we have engaged practitioners to deliver a wide range of online arts sessions while face-to face sessions have been halted. The strategic development of the organisation is led by the directors, under the guidance of the Chief Executive, Lisa Gagliani MBE. The Chief Executive also provides the necessary advice and information to ensure the board can fulfil its governance responsibilities. The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for the financial wellbeing of the charity and presents management and financial reports at quarterly meetings of the directors, which are minuted. ## 10 highly committed staff ## 37 arts practitioners delivering programmes throughout the Isle of Wight: Independent Arts works with talented freelance creative practitioners who are all specialists in their respective fields. All our practitioners are DBS checked and covered by Independent Arts’ insurance, and are trained to work with a range of clients, including those in care homes. ## 20+ trusts, foundations and other donors supporting our work, including: Aviva Andrew Preskey Arts Council England Co-op Foundation Daisie Rich Trust English Heritage Garfield Weston Foundation Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation Isle of Wight Council Julia & Hans Rausing Trust National Foundation for Youth Music Newport & Carisbrooke Community Council South West Rail Community Fund The Asda Foundation The Derrill Allatt Foundation The Henry Smith Charity The Lottery Community Fund The People’s Health Trust The Tudor Trust The Wight Proms WightAid We thank them for their support. ## 31 versatile volunteers ## 10 trustees See page 2 ## 2 Inspiring Patrons: Edana Minghella Carol Martys 26 2021 Thanking the players of the National Lottery for supporting our charity L-R staff Hannah Griffiths, Peta Rainford, Trudie Wilson, Anne Osborn, volunteer Hattie Directors are aware of the risks involved in the charity’s work with vulnerable people. We hold the following policies which are reviewed annually or in line with national legislative changes, including: - Data Protection & GDPR - Disciplinary Procedure - Disclosure and Barring - Equal Opportunities - Financial Procedures - Grievance Procedure - Health and Safety - Risk Assessment ## Safeguarding We have a strong commitment to safeguarding our clients and all those engaged in our work. Our chief executive Lisa Gagliani acts as designated safeguarding lead and Jacquie Heany is our lead trustee for safeguarding. We have a Safeguarding Policy and Procedure which is reviewed each year. All staff are safeguarding trained, all staff, practitioners and volunteers are DBS checked. No safeguarding incidents were reporting in the 20/21 reporting year. - Safeguarding Children - Staff and Office Handbook - Volunteering - Vulnerable Adult Protection - Dementia Friends: all volunteers and practitioners are encouraged to attend our in-house workshops, given the high number of people with dementia on the island. ## We are members of… - The Mindful Employers Scheme - The National Alliance of Musicians in Healthcare and NAPA - NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) 2021 27 ## **Report of the trustees for the year ended 31st July 2021** The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31st July 2021. The trustees have adopted 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 2019). ## Objectives and Activities Independent Arts is an Isle of Wight charity, established in 1987, using the arts to improve wellbeing, quality of life and to reduce social isolation. We believe that art is for all stages of life, and we deliver vital services across all ages, mindful of the range of needs: - Often older people on the Isle of Wight are amongst the most vulnerable, including those in care homes and those on the fringes of social care. - One third of children on the Island live in poverty. - Mental health services are stretched, which can affect people of any age. - Arts and wellbeing are interlinked, and we focus on bringing arts to those who might not otherwise be able to benefit from them. To further the Charity's purposes for the public benefit, we carried out the following activities: - We engaged highly skilled and trained arts practitioners to provide a wide range of creative activities aimed at improving wellbeing and reducing loneliness among the elderly, especially those living in care homes. - We delivered creative boxes and digital activities through schools and other community centres for use by children and young people, including young carers and those most disadvantaged through growing up in poverty. - We recognised the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of our island community, adapting our services to suit the interests of a wider range of people of all ages to include digital content such as videos, conference calls and participation in online arts projects. - We worked in collaboration with community partners to make arts for wellbeing activities fully accessible to all. ## Public Benefit The trustees have read the Commission's Public Benefit requirement statutory guidance and have had regard to this when running the charity. 28 2021 **Report of the trustees for the year ended 31st July 2021** ## Achievements and Performance ## **Charitable Activities** The main achievements of the Independent Arts in the year were: - Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we provided an online art gallery, which showcased visual arts, commissioned artists and engaged 171 community artists. - We later introduced a system for anyone on the Isle of Wight to openly submit any creative project they felt proud of, as part of a Looking Out from Lockdown initiative. This wide-ranging project subsequently toured around the island, enabling hundreds of people to appreciate their achievements. - We created, produced and delivered hundreds of creative boxes with adventurous activities including all the source materials, to be enjoyed by hundreds of children and older people through schools and care homes. - We commissioned hundreds of YouTube videos by our talented pool of arts practitioners, to be enjoyed by residents of all ages. - We ran weekly Zoom workshops for singing, dancing and mindfulness to replace our island wide communitybased workshops. - We secured a tenancy for a high street property, in need of much repair and refurbishment, which was ready to provide an office, workshop and gallery by December 2020. - We managed a highly dedicated staff team ensuring a focus on wellbeing; we recruited extra staff to fulfil our project activities and we maintained opportunities for artists and retained most of our volunteers. ## Financial Review ## **Financial Position** A review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the year: In the financial year ended 31 July 2021, the Charity had an income of £376,927 (2020: £238,406) and an expenditure of £300,139 (2020: £238,124), giving rise to a surplus of £76,788 (2020: -£282). There are no funds held by the charity that are materially in deficit. ## **Reserves Policy** Trustees have, during this year, set up a comprehensive risk register which considers the risks and mitigating actions that presented due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in liabilities resulting from acquiring a commercial tenancy and recruiting additional staff. The trustees have carefully considered and adjusted the Reserves Policy necessary to accommodate these alongside the growing need for the charity’s activities. ## **Going Concern** Trustees have considered the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020 has had on the charity’s finances. The most considerable impact has been on our Workshops for Wellbeing income which is our charitable activity delivered in care home settings. For the year to July 2021, we were well prepared for this loss of income and worked with funding partners to ensure critical work could take place remotely and be funded accordingly. Activities included the provision of ‘creative boxes’ to care home activity coordinators and residents. 2021 29 ## **Report of the trustees for the year ended 31st July 2021** The charity was also provided with grant support from the Isle of Wight Council, which helped the charity significantly. This was in part as a result of the newly leased premises on Newport High Street having to close during the lockdown and being able to access support as part of the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme. Independent Arts as also fortunate to receive further support from the Additional Restrictions Grant. Whilst some of our planned charitable projects had to be cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions, the vulnerability of our participants and to protect our staff, practitioners and volunteers, no grants were returned to funders because of Covid-19 prevented delivery. Trustees are grateful to funders and staff who worked creatively to reimagine services, to offer blended delivery methods, and who allowed the charity to direct funds towards the most urgent needs or our charity and the community. In Autumn 2020, all eligible staff were consulted on flexi furlough arrangements and one member of staff was furloughed through much of the year. As a result, the charity was enabled to access appropriate support when needed to cover all staff costs. During the whole pandemic, trustees reverted to online meetings at increased frequency, monthly instead of quarterly, to provide agile decision making and support to the executive team. ## Structure, Governance and Management ## **Governing Document** The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006. ## **Recruitment and appointment of new trustees** The charity is a company limited by guarantee. By the Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 7 July 1987 directors are required to be Guarantor Members of the company and are appointed, or if previously co-opted, are confirmed at annual general meetings. Directors (who are also the charity’s trustees) are recruited by personal contact, advertisement or after their approaching the company. Their role is voluntary and unpaid. New directors are introduced to the company at directors’ meetings with previous documentary information having been provided. They have skills that are relevant to the charity’s work. To prepare them for their role, they receive a trustee information pack and are directed to resources from the Charity Commission about what is involved in being a charity trustee. In 2020 a skills audit resulted in the recruitment of two new trustees. A bespoke induction programme was prepared to introduce them to the charity. During the summer of 2021, all trustees had individual appraisals with the chair of trustees and from this it was agreed that some additional skills would be beneficial. Recruitment of some additional trustees is in place at the time of writing this report, with the expectation that this will be completed by January 2022. 30 2021 ## **Future plans** As restrictions began to ease from May 2021 onwards, the charity considered how it could expand its delivery and maximise the benefit of having a high street presence in the county town of Newport. We also want to build on the strong connections established with a wide range of partners during the pandemic and to set ourselves a mission to be the go-to arts-forwellbeing Island charity post pandemic, with an emphasis on mental health for all ages. We want to play a big part in the cultural education of the next generation of Islanders, having enjoyed our incredible work on the School Ties project (Lottery funded) and Picture Play (Isle of Wight Council funded). A Growth Plan was developed based on four main components: ## Capacity to increase necessary resources, both staff and volunteers, and to ensure we have the right number and calibre of arts practitioners to meet the requirements of more diverse participants of all ages across the Island. ## Capability to invest in skills development in areas including digital marketing, branding, impact monitoring and storytelling. ## Communication to work on our purpose and impact messaging, to develop consistent communications both in narrative style, tone and design. To ensure we communicate about our charity’s impact broadly, in addition to communicating to our community to advertise our services. To find new ways of working, remotely and on site, to improve team communication skills. ## Creativity To be agile and innovative, keeping engaged with the Island-wide needs and opportunities; to continue to work collaboratively and in partnership with other arts, heritage, cultural and biosphere organisations through The Island Collection and other forums. Approved by order of the board of trustees on 27th January 2022 and signed on its behalf by: W R Varley - Trustee 2021 31 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Independent Arts ('the Company')** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31st July 2021. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act'). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** Since your charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a registered member of Senior Statutory Auditor which is one of the listed bodies. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or 3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or 4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). 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. Elizabeth Dack FCA FCCA Senior Statutory Auditor Harrison Black Limited Pyle House 136/137 Pyle Street Newport Isle of Wight PO30 1JW 27th January 2022 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31st July 2021** |Unrestricted Restricted
fund
fund
Notes
£
£
**Income and Endowments**
From Donations and legacies
**85,999**
**290,924**
Investment income
2
**4**
**-**
**Total**
**86,003**
**290,924**
**Expenditure on**
**Charitable Activities**
Charitable Activity
**36,697**
**263,442**
**Net Income**
**49,306**
**27,482**
**Reconciliation of Funds**
**Total funds brought forward**
**90,967**
**149,937**
**Total Funds Carried Forward**
**140,273**
**177,419**|**2021**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
**376,923**
**4**
**376,927**
**300,139**
**76,788**
**240,904**
**317,692**|2020
Total
funds
£
238,303
103
238,406
238,124| |---|---|---| |||282
240,622| |||240,904| 2021 33 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **Balance Sheet 31st July 2021** |Unrestricted Restricted
fund
fund
Notes
£
£
**Fixed Assets**
Tangible assets
7
**1,502**
**14**
**Current Assets**
Stocks
8
**350**
**-**
Debtors
9
**5,154**
**-**
Cash at bank and in hand
**151,021**
**241,277**
**156,525**
**241,277**
**Creditors**
Amounts falling due
10
**(17,754)**
**(63,872)**
within one year
**Net Current Assets**
**138,771**
**177,405**
**Total Assets Less Current Liabilities 140,273**
**177,419**
**Net Assets**
**140,273**
**177,419**
**Funds**
11
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
**Total Funds**|**2021**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
**1,516**
**350**
**5,154**
**392,298**
**397,802**
**(81,626)**
**316,176**
**317,692**
**317,692**
140,273
177,419
317,692|2020
Total
funds
£
1,894
350
24,722
368,698
393,770
(154,760)
239,010
240,904
240,904
90,967
149,937
240,904| |---|---|---| 34 2021 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **Balance Sheet 31st July 2021** The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31st July 2021. The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31st July 2021 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for a) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies’ regime. The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 27th January 2022 and were signed on its behalf by: W R Varley - Trustee 2021 35 **Company Number 02147908** **Independent Arts** **Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31st July 2021** ## **1. Accounting Policies** ## **Basis of preparing the financial statements** The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) '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 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. ## **Income** All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. ## **Expenditure** Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. ## **Tangible Fixed Assets** Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life. ## **Stocks** Stocks are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value, after making due allowance for obsolete and slow moving items. ## **Taxation** The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities. ## **Fund Accounting** Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements. 36 2021 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **2. Investment Income** |**estment Income**||| |---|---|---| ||**2021**|2020| ||**£**|£| |Deposit account interest|**4**|103| ## **3. Net Income/(Expenditure)** Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting): ||**2021**|2020| |---|---|---| ||**£**|£| |Depreciation - owned assets|**378**|474| ## **4. Trustees' Remuneration and Benefits** There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31st July 2021 nor for the year ended 31st July 2020. ## **Trustees' Expenses** There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31st July 2021 nor for the year ended 31st July 2020. ## **5. Staff Costs** The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows: ||**2021**|2020| |---|---|---| |Chief Executive|**1**|1| |Managers|**2**|2| |Other Staf|**7**|6| ||**10**|9| No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000 in either 2021 or 2020. 2021 37 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **6. Comparatives For The Statement Of Financial Activities** |||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total| |---|---|---|---|---| |||fund|fund|funds| |||£|£|£| ||**Income and Endowments From**|||| ||Donations and legacies|56,109|182,194|238,303| ||Investment income|103|-|103| ||**Total**|56,212|182,194|238,406| ||**Expenditure On**|||| ||**Charitable Activities**|||| ||Charitable Activity|64,097|174,027|238,124| ||**Net Income/(Expenditure)**|(7,885)|8,167|282| ||**Reconciliation Of Funds**|||| ||**Total funds brought forward**|98,852|141,770|240,622| ||**Total Funds Carried Forward**|||| |||90,967|149,937|240,904| |**7.**|**Tangible Fixed Assets**|||| |||||Plant and| |||||machinery| |||||£| ||**Cost**|||| ||At 1st August 2020 and 31st July|2021||**19,066**| ||**Depreciation**|||| ||At 1st August 2020|||**17,172**| ||Charge for year|||**378**| ||At 31st July 2021|||**17,550**| ||**Net Book Value**|||| ||At 31st July 2021|||**1,516**| ||At 31st July 2020|||**1,894**| |**8.**|**Stocks**|||| ||||**2021**|2020| ||||**£**|£| ||Stocks||**350**|350| |**9.**|**Debtors: amounts falling due within one year**|||| ||||**2021**|2020| ||||**£**|£| ||Trade debtors||**1,050**|21,129| ||Prepayments||**4,104**|3,593| ||||**5,154**|24,722| 38 2021 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **10. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year** |||||**2021**|2020| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||**£**|£| ||Trade creditors|||**13,915**|943| ||Social security and other taxes|||**2,785**|1,542| ||Accruals and deferred income|||**64,926**|152,275| |||||**81,626**|154,760| |**11.**|**Movement in Funds**|At 1.8.20||Net Movement|At 31.7.21| |||||In funds|| ||||£|£|£| ||**Unrestricted Funds**||||| ||General fund||**90,967**|**49,306**|**140,273**| ||Restricted|**149,937**||**27,482**|**177,419**| ||**Restricted funds**||||| ||**Total Funds**|**240,904**||**76,788**|**317,692**| ||Net movement in funds, included|in the above are as follows:|||| |||Incoming||Resources|Movement| |||resources||expended|in funds| ||||£|£|£| ||**Unrestricted funds**||||| ||General fund||86,003|(36,697)|49,306| ||**Restricted funds**||||| ||Restricted|290,924||(263,442)|27,482| ||**Total Funds**|376,927||(300,139)|76,788| ||**Comparatives for movement in funds**||||| ||||At|Net|| |||||movement|At| ||||1.8.19|in funds|31.7.20| ||||£|£|£| ||**Unrestricted Funds**||||| ||General Fund||98,852|(7,885)|90,967| ||**Restricted Funds**||||| ||Restricted||141,770|8,167|149,937| ||**Total Funds**|240,622||282|240,904| ||Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as||||follows:| |||Incoming||Resources|Movement| |||resources||expended|in funds| ||||£|£|£| ||**Unrestricted Funds**||||| ||General Fund||56,212|(64,097)|(7,885)| ||**Restricted Funds**||||| ||Restricted||182,194|(174,027)|8,167| ||**Total Funds**|238,406||(238,124)|282| **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows: ||At 1.8.19|Net Movement|At 31.7.21| |---|---|---|---| ||£|£|£| |**Unrestricted Funds**|||| |General Fund|98,852|41,421|140,273| |**Restricted Funds**|||| |Restricted|141,770|35,649|177,419| |**Total Funds**|240,622|77,070|317,692| A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows: |Incoming
resources
£
**Unrestricted Funds**
General Fund
142,215
**Restricted Funds**
Restricted
473,118
**Total Funds**
615,333|Resources
Movement
expended
in funds
£
£
(100,794)
41,421
(437,469)
35,649
(538,263)
77,070| |---|---| ## **12. Related Party Disclosures** There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31st July 2021. ## **13. Nature and Purpose of Funds** During the course of the year the charity acquired a six-year tenancy on 48 High Street, Newport which was refurbished with the generous grants from a few funders. To maximise the potential increase in charitable activity at the new premises, the charity appointed additional staff on fixed term contracts to expand to six-day operations and resolved to plan for an early surrender of the office premises at 30 Quay Street which has four years remaining on its tenancy. Meanwhile, the office vacated during lockdown, has not been used by staff themselves, but is used for storage purposes. The Reserves Policy was reviewed and in the light of the increased liabilities, the Continuity Fund was increased to £29,373 (2020: £25,082) and the Winding Up Fund was increased to £92,122 (2020: £26,003). We also held £10,000 designated as an Impact Fund – this is to enable the charity to design and deliver projects that meet local demand and other innovations, prior to requesting and receiving grant funds. This can also be used at the board’s discretion to continue funding projects deemed successful in their outcomes, when their external funding ends prior to further funding, to avoid stop gaps in delivery. Given the uncertainties of income ahead due the pandemic, trustees decided to close the two separate reserves accounts and to open a Flagstone account in August 2021 into which £65,000 was transferred into 4 separate savings accounts for six to eighteen months. The remainder of the reserves is held in the main CAF bank account to accommodate short term fluctuations in income if needed. 40 2021 **Independent Arts** **Company Number 02147908** ## **14. Post Balance Sheet Events** With the charity’s year end on 31st July 2021, the charity was able to see the lifting of some Covid-19 restrictions. Trustees requested and were provided with organisational plans which included testing, social distancing and cleaning protocols planned to ensure the safety and well-being of staff, volunteers and participants in all delivery settings. Activities included: Paid-for twice weekly cleaning has been implemented which will have an impact on overhead costs. All staff have been provided with their own laptops rather than sharing keyboards and screens when hot desking. Staff continue to work from home whenever possible, with a small core staff of three usually present at our Creative Hub, which has become our operational headquarters. As more social interaction becomes possible and indeed sought after, trustees and leadership are focussed on: - Increasing investment in staff training to improve capacity and capability and a renewed focus on marketing to a range of audiences, to ensure the charity improve its position in the current year. - A plan to re-start activities in care homes, which can support more selfgenerated charitable income from workshops. - Ensuring the Creative Hub on Newport High Street is central to our growth plans. Being in a prominent high street position; this has had three major impacts: - Increase to six-day a week operational delivery - this has meant an increase of staff to manage the services Monday through Saturday. Additional part time staff were recruited in September 2021. - An increase in partnership working with grant-funded projects to deliver as part of the Heritage High Street Action Zone for Newport and the Creative Biosphere Island-wide. - Deferred income amounting to almost £64,000 for delivery Autumn/Winter 2021 received, most notably new services aimed at improving mental wellbeing among young people, funded by the NHS. 2021 41 ## **A Poem for Lockdown** _by Ben Murray-Holmes_ _(submitted as part of Looking Out from Lockdown)_ To (future) Covid-19 I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us. We had a good run but a relationship shouldn’t be built on fear and there were days in which you made me fear for my life. It wasn’t healthy for me, so I had to let you go. I did everything all my friends told me to do. I avoided contact with you, put a mask on so you wouldn’t recognise me in the streets. I washed my hands so much ‘cause you made me feel SO dirty. But I got help. Saw a Doctor and got something to help me get over you. It wasn’t easy but I was patient and now I can get back to my life. I know it’s silly, writing to you after you’ve gone. You’re still out there somewhere and that sends a shiver down my spine sometimes I feel better with the knowledge I now know. I don’t need to be afraid anymore. I can fight you, if you ever return, I will. It’s been months now since my parents last said your name. It’s so good to see them again and now, when I see my friends, I am able to touch and hug them, I won’t stop. Once day, when I pass an old sign with a 2 metre sticker worn away on it, I’ll think of you but believe me, when that happens, I’ll be free again. I’ll be ME again. Yours presently but not for long! ## **Our impact was achieved this year, thanks to the talents of the following people:** Amy Normanton Andrew Butcher Angelina Grimshaw Caroline Thorn Dave Godby David Healy Davina Smith Em Johnson Fani Bahchevanska Glenn Koppany Janice Thorn Jason Watts JC Grimshaw Jess Ong John Shirley Julian Winslow Kathy Grimshaw Lauren Fry Mandy Bangerter Mark Lloyd Mary Eynon Michelle Hainsworth Polly Zanardi Sandy Kealty Sara Barfoot Sol Grimshaw Steve French Steve Parker Tilly Grimshaw Tony Nicol Trudie Wilson Sue Goodall Verity Bird Susan Wedderkop Vicky Wilson Helen Beavis Zarah Groves Linda Brewer Hannah Griffiths Norma Pearce Kerry Tindall Josephine Cox Nick Ward David Smith Joanne Rigby Dawn Tearle Kerry Weston Mark Cowdrey Ralph Ridler Luiza Vaughan Lisa Gagliani Brenda Sampson Vicky Scovell Marie Delise Holmberg Sue Clark Sharon Warren Paul Flynn Sharon Tate Wendy Varley Harriet Massey Jodie Jones Richard Ensor Ben Rouse Elle Shelton David McMullen Kieran Thompson Brian Marriott Lisa Anthony Geoff Ruck Jean Cotton David Lindsay Diane Bertie Kathleen Boyland Emma Ridett Brenda Butt Ann Thompson Sally Hyde Heather Meddemmen Juliet Ketteridge Sallie Ryan Kay Russell Jasmine Taylor Ann Simpson Marnie Janaway Maire Jervis Kate Ball Anne Osborn Annie O'Bree ## **Contact us:** Independent Arts 48/49 High Street Newport Isle of Wight PO30 1SE **Phone:** 01983 822437 **Email:** info@independentarts.org.uk **Web:** independentarts.org.uk