Aisling Ghéar Theatre Co Trustees Report Completed Jan 2024 The Trustee’s 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 31 March 2018. 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 2015) ## **Aisling Ghéar’s Mission & Vision** - To make live theatre in Irish popular, nationally and internationally - To produce Irish language theatre at its’ very best ## **Strategic Goals** - To increase income and ensure sustainability - To develop and engage with our audiences - To increase the profile of the Company ## **Objectives** - 1.1 Maintain and grow existing levels of income - 1.2 To sustain and expand the organisation from private sponsorship sources, trusts and foundations - 1.3 To maximise efficiency in the delivery of our programme of work - 2.1 Search and build on collaborative audience development Initiatives to engage our audiences - 2.2 Promote inter-cultural dialogue in order to increase our audiences - 2.3 Develop partnerships with companies’ and organisations to deliver joint programmes - 3.1 Promote awareness of the company locally, nationally and Internationally - 3.2 Establish relationships with international networking groups and promoters - 3.3 Search and build on opportunities to work in Partnership with international companies and organisations ## **Programme of Activities for the 22/23 Year** Another challenging year for the company with news of an unsuccessful application to the annual funding round with ACNI. Despite this we managed to deliver our debut performance at the prestigious Dublin Fringe Festival, win an Irish Times Theatre Award and have a radio drama commissioned and broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster. Alongside that was a Christmas Show for almost 1000 children at the Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich and the final launch of our unique disability project The Wheelchair Monologues, in 4 parts and filmed in the Ulster Museum, on all our social media platforms with 2718 views ## **Minimal Human Contact** Minimal Human Contact was a new one-man show,and a true story, that premiered at Dublin Fringe Festival in Sept 2022. It was written by award winning rapper from KNEECAP - Naoise Ó Cairealláin. ‘A gutsy, raw, rollercoaster ride though one night in the life of a compulsive gambler told as Gaeilge’. The show went on to have a very successful tour of Ireland in Feb 2023 …..packs a lot of punch, metaphorically and literally, with Seán T Ó Meallaigh in brilliant form, even cracking the accent of the Belfast Westie. _Irish News_ …….it barrels along at a breakneck pace. It is engaging and enlightening and surprisingly cathartic. It is the perfect marriage of writer and actor. A wonderful piece. _No More Workshorse -Dublin review_ ## **An Eachtra/The Incident** This was our first foray into radio drama with a classic whodunit, written by Nuala Ní Neill. Four friends embark on a weekend adventure to a desolate island to celebrate their graduation; tragic events happen and 5 years later they meet again but the repercussions have impacted their entire lives in multifarious and heartbreaking ways. Broadcast Sept 2022. Listenership figures: 1100 ## **‘Luaithríona/Cindrella’** Aisling Ghéar’s quirky take on the classic story, written by Seán Ó Muireagain. It tells of the handsome prince who fell for the Mum-in-law and the sisters who bonded together and made a stand for girl power! It ran for 8 packed shows with a delighted and noisy audience who thoroughly enjoyed themselves! In other news, we were successful in attracting £60,000 over the next 3 years, from the Dept of Communities’ Artwork Programme to hire a new member of staff. Ciaran Ó Doherty joined us as a Trainee Business Development and Marketing Officer in Feb 2023 and has been a real asset to the company from the begining, we look forward to working with him over the next few years. Our principle funder Foras na Gaeilge, generously funded the second tour of Minimal Human Contact in Feb 2023 and also provided further funding to develop a new Strategic Plan 2024 – 2027 and to conduct a Governance Review for the company. ## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES** The trustees (who are also the directors of Aisling Ghéar Theatre Co for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements of each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to - Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently - Observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent - Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is - Inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue In business The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Approved by order of the board of trustees on 9th January 2024 and signed on its behalf by Simon Wood - Chairperson of the Trustees