Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Director's Report) Year ended 31 March 2024 The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. Reference and administrative details Registered charlty name Eastside Arts Charity registration number 107782 Company registration number N1628773 Prlnclpal offlce and reglstered Avalon House office 278-280 Newtonards Road Belfast BT41HE Antrim The trustees F Bell R Davison M Turtle E Mccracken J McGrath M Neill J Sialianskaia (Resigned 16 April 2024) (Appointed 4 July 2023) (Appointed 4 July 2023) (Appointed 4 July 2023) (Appointed 4 July 2023) Company secretary Tony Wilson Auditor Finegan Gibson Ltd Chartered accountants & statutory auditor Causeway Tower 9 James Street South Belfast BT2 8DN Solicitors Hewitt and Gilpin 8 High Street Holywood Co. Down BT18 9AZ
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Dlrector's Report) {¢ontinued) Year ended 31 March 2024 Structurei govemance and management Governlng Document Eastside Arts is a company limited by guarantee and Is a charity recognised by the Charity Commission for Nl. It is a not for profit organisation. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the company and is governed under its Articles of Association. Appolntment of trustees The Chairperson and the trustees recommend new trustees as needed. New trustees are recruited on the relevance of their skills. and their potential to be abla to make a helpful contribution to the governance of the charity. As part of this process they are made awar8 of a trustee's legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Ihe decision-making processes, the business plan and recent financial performance of the charity. Once the potential new trustee has agreed to be considered for appointment they can be co-opted by the directors until formal voting by members occurs at the next Annual General Meeting. Trustee induction and training A trustee Induction process is in place for all group companies. Organisation structure and how charity makes decisions Eastside Arts is govemed by the board of directors. The company is managed on a day to day basis by a senior management team. The board of directors meets quarterly. and is appointed by the members at the AGM. A senior management team manages the day to day activities of the company. and reports on company perforniance to all board meetings. Arrangements for settlng pay and remuneration of key management personnel The directors consider the board of directors, who are the charivs trustees. and the senior management team comprise the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the charity on a day to day basis. All directors give of their time freely and no director received remuneration in the year. Details of directors, expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 13 to the accounts. The pay of the senior staff is set by reference to NICVA guidance and utilisation of NJC pay scales. In view of the nature of the charity. the directors benchmark against pay levels in other similar stzed charit18s run on a voluntary basis when appointing new members of key management. Relationships with relatedpartles None of our trustees receive remuneration or other benefit from their work with the charity.
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (Gontlnue Year ended 31 March 2024 Risk management The company aims to mitigate the major risks it faces by implementstion of the following procedures:. Significant external risks to funding have led to the development of a strategic plan which clearly identifies funding requirements going forward; and Internal control risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures for authorisation of all transactions with a financial implication. Directors The directors serving during the year were as follows:. F Bell R Davison E Mccracken J McGrath M Neill J Sialianskaia M Turtle
Eastside Arts Company Limlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report {Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued) Year ended 31 March 2024 Objectlves and activitles Eastside Arts seeks to create an east Belfast that is a thriving cultural hub. where the arts are valued. creativity is for everyone and people are connected with each other and the wider world. Eastside Arts is one of the 5 specific projects identified by Eastside Partnership. a regeneration charity. to be delivered via subsidiary companies or project committees during 2021-2024. Eastside Arts works within this context to challenge barriers to participation and demonstrate that the arts and creativity are for everyone. bringing regeneration to the east of the city through creative engagement. In terms of extemal strategic context. the company works within the strategic seNice delivery and funding context of the Programme for Government and Belfast Agenda. We are a key partner in delivering the strategic objectives of our core funders. the Arts Council Northem Ireland (ACNI) who is our principal funder,. Belfast City Council. specifically the Belfast Agenda and 10-year Cultural Strategy, A City Imagining., and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation with whom we have 4-year funding to deliver the C reative Citizens project (2023-2026). Within the overall Programme for Government, Eastside Arts is most strategically aligned with Outcome 5: We are an innovative, creative society, where people can fulfil their potential: and Outcome 9: We are a Shad. welcoming and confident society that respects diversity. Within Belfast City Council's Belfasl Agenda we are most strategically aligned with Outcome 5: Belfast is a vibrant. attractive, connected and environmentslly sustainable city; and Outcome 2.. Belfast is a welcoming, safe, fair and inclusive city for all. Ea5tSide Arts is proud to be part of the cultural landscape of Belfast. contributing to the growth and development of the Arts Sector in Northern Ireland. The company employed 3 full time members of staff during th8 course of the year. Charitable Purpose The purpose of Eastside Arts, as expressed in its objects is to.. advance education, to promote the arts. heritage and culture and to promote the benefit of the people of East Belfast and its environs of Greater Belfast without distinction of age, gender. disability, sexual orientation. nationality. ethnic identity. political or religious opinion. by associating the statutory authoritles. community and voluntary organisations and the inhabitants and in particular- a) to encourage appreciation for and adive participation in community based visual and performlng arts including music. visual art, comedy. theatre, film and literature b) to encourage appreciation of the arts and stimulate the artistic creativity of people in the area of benefit and to produce perfomances and exhibitions of works of cultural and educational value including @nt8rtainm8nts and exhibitions c) to advance any other exclusively charitable purpose as the dlrectors may, from time to time. decide in accordance with the law of charity.
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (contlnuod) Year ended 31 March 2024 Strategic report The following sections for achievements and performance and financial review form the strategic report of the charity. Achlevements and perforniance Publlc beneflt report From our company objects flow our organisational purpose which is "to create an east Belfast that is thriving cultural hub; where the arts are valued, creativity is for everyone and people are connected with each other and the wider world.. The different elements within our purpose are further broken down into four Strategic Objectives as follows - 1. To improve equity of opportunity for people in east Belfast to engage with creative activities 2. To creale a variety of meaningful, open and inclusive opportunities for people in east Belfast to explore creativity and connect with others 3. To celebrate the past, present and fijture of east Belfast: 4. To develop relationships that ensure the long-term stability of Eastside Arts and create investment in the arts in east Belfast During 2023124 we worked towards achieving our objectives in the following ways: Objective 1: To improve equity of opportunity for people in east Belfast to engage with creative activities We have been developing our community engagement practice since Eastside Arts was fonned in 2016. and concluded that in order to provide more equitable access to the arts and creativity in east Belfast, we needed mor8 information about the residents of this part of the city. We made an ambitious application to the Paul Hamlyn Fund for 4-year funding in 2022 and were awarded a 4-year grant of £317K for the 'Creativ8 Cltlzens. project in November of that year. This programme aims to increase the eng agement in and impact of arts and creativity across east Belfast by non-traditional arts audiences by increasing equty of access for everyone. The first phase of the project was the Cuftural Research and Engagement Tender which was awarded to Smith and Kent Consulting in June 2023. Over the period of 9 months they were asked to: Create an asset map of the cultural. geographic, economic. social and sectoral assets of east
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) {¢ontinued) Year ended 31 March 2024 Belfast Create a report detsiling who and why people engage. and don't engage, in culture and the arts in east Belfast Create an Impact Evaluation Framework for the 4-year project Identification of a group of Delivery Partners interested in co-designing pilot creative programmes Development and facilitation of a nelwork of Research Partners who are interested in cultural regeneration and community engagement In service of these goals, Smith and Kent: Mapped over 200 assets in East Belfast Spoke to 871 individuals across 87 engagement sessions which took place in shopping centres, shops. cafes. a hairdresser. a leisure centre. parks. festivals, family fun days, pubs, social clubs. sports clubs, churches. community centres and more. Ran a social media campaign asking people what creative pastimes they enjoyed which received 182 social media response5 #ltsAIIGoneEast Key points that we heard and learned from the research: People are generally very proud of east Belfast although this became less so as the researchers moved into more working-class communities. The words 'culture" and 'arts" are barriers. Whether people did art at school or were good at 'arty-stuff' as a child seems to be more of a detemiinate of whether they consider themselves arty as an adult. regardless of what they do now. Keeping kids happily occupied or just tiring them out! is a major motivator for parents and grandparents. Community and connection are key motivators. Whole-cost is a concern across most groups - ticket price. merchandlse. sweets. ice-cream, food, beer. transport, babysitter and so on. Night-time transport is another barrier with limited public transport and scarce, expensive taxis. East Belfast was frequently described as green. and residents love the Greenway and outdoor festivals and events. and they see this as good for their mantal health. Bandsmen see bands not as creative but as cultural. a way of lrfe. People do a lot in the comfort of their own homes, particularly baking, drawing, painting and craft. Younger people, people with poor menial health and neurodivergent people are particularly prone to social anxiety and need a lot of assurance to try something new or go somewhere different. There is a strong desire for more outdoor public-space events including on streets, in carparks and outside libraries, shops or other familiar venues. This information informed our planning for years 2 and 3 of the project. and we also sought opportunities to share our findings and learnings with colleagues in the community and arts sector. To this end we continued to develop our networks in east Belfast and to have discussions about equitable access to arts and creativity with colleagues including: Race Relations Nelwork East Belfast Community Development Cafes East Belfast Community Development Association Ballymac Friendship Centre New connections were made with the managers of Flourish who support survivors of human. Objective 2: To create a variety of meaningful, open and Incluslve opportunltles for people In east Belfast to explore creativity and connect wlth others We believe that to make creative opportunltles meanlngful. they need to resonate with the
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Dlrectorfs Report) (cantlnu8dJ Year ended 31 March 2024 participantslaudience. To this tend we have the aim of telling east Belfast stories, and during the reporting period we had the opportunity to support the writer Alice Malseed to tell the story of poverty in east Belfast, which is alarmingly prevalent. The collaborative project worked wlth the followlng partners - Eastside Partnershlp anti-poverty Scaffolding Project East Belfast Anti-Poverty Alliance The Larder Social Supemiarket Kabosh Theatre Company Alice created a 4-hander play called Three Pay Days. which was shared as a work in progress at The Larder during the 2023 Eastside Arts Festival. We invited the audience of invited guests, interviewees and ticket buyers to giv8 us their thoughts on the play to support Alice in writing the next draft. Audien feedback from the festival reading - Stunning work. exploring such an important theme. Thank you. A powerful piece of political theatrel work-in-progress. Excited to see the final product. In Spring 2023 we toured the one-man drama Billy Boy by Rosemary Jenkinson. a play about a young bonfire builder that was inspired by conversation with young people with Itved experience of bonfire culture, to 4 x Belfast community venues through partnership with Green Shoot Productions. This play also refleGts our desire to tell east Belfast stories. specifically the stories of people that are frequently the mosl marginalised within our community. Our year-round community engagement programme aimed to meet our objective of creating open opportunities through 3 x targeted programmes that brought people together to enjoy creative community- The Eastside Choir 0 3 x terms x 8 weeks per temi o Rehearsals took place at Short strand Community Centre o Performances at the Eastside Arts Festival in July, the C.S. Lewis Festival in November. at the Waterfront Hall in December o Special Winter Warmer event at Short Sports & Rec Club in December 0 40 choir members (open access. no auditions) 0 2 x professional musicians employed as Choir Masters o Hundreds of people enjoyed listening to the choir performances ArtFul Ageing 0 2 x programmes running simultaneously.. o CreativiTEA Tuesdays Delivered in Artscare by artist Kirsty McGuinness 80 participants in total across 7 s8ssions o Music and Memori8S •Delivered in 4 x residential care facilities in east, by musician and facilitator Seonaid Murray. 96 participants in total
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Director's Report) (eonllnu8d) Year ended 31 March 2024 'Our residents with dementia were upbeat and most canyed on signing for the rest of the aftemoon" The Big Kids, Society 0 12 x monthly creatlve socials (106 participants) o Venues used (Studlo Stereo on the Cregagh Road and the Lamppost Café on the Newtownards Road) are accessible to disabled customers o Events often sold out within several hours of going on sale, so - 0 1 x Big Kids. Society Extravaganza during the arts festival (40 participants) 0 1 x Big Kids. Society Christmas Winter Paty(34 participants) 0 1 x'chunky Cherubs and Shit Sonnets, valentines themed event (34 participants) During the reporting period we focussed again on how we can make all of our programmes as Incluslve as possible, and in service of this aim we developed several new collaborations with - .Siobhan Brown, the founder of the Soultrane, a new MOBO festival with the aim of piloting @vents that will appeal to people of colour in the 2024 Eastside Arts Festival. Andrea Montgomery, Artistic Director of Tea Nova Productions, Northem Ireland's intercultural theatre company, to support a Shakespeare competition and masterclass for global majority actors who have expressed frustration with not being cast in Shakespeare and classical productions. Both will be progressed in the following year. We began the first stage of a venue audit to ensure Ihe spaces we use are at the very least vtheelchair accessible. We sought advice from University of Atypical and Arts for All to bring lived experience expertise to the next stage of the audit. We began working with Paula Clark. a deaf artist and activist, to devise a series of events in the 2024 Eastside Arts Festival. We hope this is the start of a process to ensure that the festival 15 accessible to the dlDeaf community, and in the longer term, we hope to train our stsff and freelance staff in British Sign Language, and include dlDeaf artists in the festival programme. With the aim of developing our'shared Curation, model, we recruited 2 x Youth Programmers to programme and promote an event in ESAF23 that appealed to a younger demographic. Achievements and perfomiance In the above programmes we engaged with 755 participants 101 hours of face to face engagement 1647 estimated audience 56 artists employed In 16 east Belfast locations Development of the Creative Citizens programme included the creation of an Artist Support Programme with the aim of equipping artists to meet the needs of local groups and residents when working in more challenging 8nvironments in east Belfast. To inform how the support programme would best serve both professional artist facilitators, and the local community, we held 2 x round table events which established the following - Both artists and those working with groups agreed that the following training was needed I desirable o GenderlidentitylLGBTQIA' o Neurodiversity in adults and chlldren.,
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (Mntinued) Year ended 31 March 2024 o Trauma Infomied Practice Artists also expressed the need for training in basic good facilitstion practice and the business of being facilitator We responded by designing the Artist Support Programme to include - 'Enhance' compassionate facilitation training 'Understand' bespoke training programme in th8 3 x areas listed above 'Share' training and neiworking events covering therapeutic practice and boundaries, personal brand, marketing and engagement, business development and communications and pitching. We recruited participants for Enhance in Q4 of the year and had so many applications we decided to run 2 x facilitation training days, with a total of 24 artists. Organisational transformation is an imporlanl part of the Paul Hamlyn funding, looking at how Eastside Arts will be more effective and financially sustainable as a result of 4 years of support. The Manager worked with the Chair. stsff and CEO of EastSid8 Partnership to develop new strategic objec tives for the company going foard. These priorities were agreed by the Eastside Arts Board and will inform our work in the incoming financial year. Objective 1: Artists are supported to work in east Belfast Artists are part of the fabric of the community The arts are seen as a valid career choice Artists are supported to make work Objective 2.. Increased diverse opportunities for people to be creative, on their terms More creative things happening, and more people doing them Objectlve 3: More places in east Belfast are animated wlth creative activities Non-arts spaces are fit for arts purposes and are accessible to everyone Non-traditional arts spaces are animated with arts events by ESA and others Objective 3: To celebrate the past. present and future of east Belfast: The Eastside Arts team worked In partnership on a number of important projects across the year that met this objective July Weekender in C.S. Lewis Square on 8 & 9 Juty; delivered with colleagues in Eastside Partnership C.S. Lewis Festival in November from 24th 26th November,. delivered with colleagues in Eastside Partnership HUB-IN project that animated sites on the Maritime Mile via ARNR; delivered with colleagues in Eastside Tourism and Daffyd Hall Williams of Ulst8r Touring Opera The Manager was part of th8 Design Team for the roll out of the Belfast City Council Participatory Budgeting project, Th8 Bank of Ideas; part of the Belfast 2024 events; delivered with Belfast City Council culture team and 12 x colleagu8s from the cultural sector across Belfast. Small Nl tour of Billy Boy by Rosemary Jenkinson to The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton, The MAC, Belfast and The Playhouse in Dery, playing to a total audience of 253 people-, delivered with Producer Stephen Beggs, colleagues at each of the venues and with support from the Departrnent of Foreign Affairs. A key part of our annual programme is the Eastside Arts Festival. The festival is designed to celebrate and showcase the creativty of the people and places of east Belfast, and to encourage domestic
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued) Year ended 31 March 2024 tourism from other parts of the city. the country, the UK and Ireland. Following the 1 Oth birthday of the festival in 2022, the Manager worked with the Chair and Trustees of Eastside Arts and the CEO and colleagues at Eastside Partnership to refresh the objectives of the festival to make sure it continued to align to the ESA and ESP strategies. It was agreed that going forward. the festival could contribute to regeneration through 5 broad themes: Showcasing people and place Promoting wellbeing (moments ofjoy, enjoyment, connection) Supporting creativity (artist development and creative pathways) Celebrating diversity and supporting inclusion Giving people a voice (platforming local themes, issues and challenges) The 2023 festival was designed with these key themes mind, and met its objectives as follows - The festival ran from 27 July - 6 August 65 x arts. culture and heritage events took place The festival animated 30 venues across east Belfast We employed more Ihan 200 artists and 8 x freelance staff 7843 audiences and 1515 participants attended events Our audiences were primarily from the UK (largely Nl) wlth less than 2¢ of attendees coming from outside the UK 64 % of bookers were from Belfast; meaning 360/0 are visitors from outside Belfast with bookers from ArdslNorth Down and Lisburnlcastlereagh making up an additional 230/0 of bookers 710/0 of bookers live in BT4. BT5 and BT6 making the festival audience hyper-local 12¥0 of bookers are returning customers (attended last year) which is higher than the 2022 figure 304 comment cards were completed by festival goers at 23 festival events. When asked to rate the event as excellent. good, average or poor.. 0 85 /0 rated the event as excellent 0 990/0 rated the event as excellent or good 0 1.60/0 rated the event as average o Nobody rated the event as poor What the festival-goers said - This was a moming of creative bliss. Gives inspiration and the tools to go and create independently. Thank you everyone @ Eastside Arts WOW. What a perfom7erl An excellent show- perfect venue - MOREI What an incredible night thank you. Hope there is p18nty mor8 nights like that in th8 PIP81ine. Bn'lliant event. Perfect way to get my head out of Work mode. for the weekend. Loved all aspects of this event, remlnded me how fvn craft is. Ie really enjoyed this experience. well organised and staff were lovely. Objective 4: To develop relationships that ensure the long-term stability of Eastside Arts and create investment in the arts in east Belfast We understand that achieving long-term stability is based on financial security. and that true 10
Eastside Arts Company Limlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report {Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued) Year ended 31 March 2024 sustainability is almost impossible to achieve in the current climate and in sector suffering from a long-temi critical lack of investment. With this in mind we worked towards ensuring the Eastside Arts VRS in as strong a position financially in the following ways - The Eastside Arts Festival was programmed with a mixture of fully funded free events, ticketed events that are designed to break even. and a small number of events that are designed to make a small profit. We focussed our marketing spend on sales-focussed digital campaigns which were trackable and best use of advertising spend We programmed music and comedy events that had the highest ticket yield In doing so we exceeded our festival ticketing income target We secured funding from Halifax Foundalion and National Lottery Awards for All which allowed us to deliver free avents for families and the local community We are aware that strong relationships and a good reputation within the arts sector Is also vital in securing long-term sustainability. To achieve this priority we Designed our programmes to employ local artists, facilitators, creatives and suppliers We exceeded our target of 600/0 of all project spend going towards artist costs across all programmes We paid 900/0 of all invoices within the 30 day contractual pertod We invested in our board and staff across the year to ensure that the company maintains an optimum level of committed. capable trustees and has a staff team capable of delivering the strategic plan. Due to a board recruitment exercise we met our target of 8 Trustees during the financial year. with 4 new trustees attending their first board meeting in Q2. Many of the Eastside Arts Trustees w8re involved in workshops to develop the new Eastside Partnership 5-year Strategy All staff carried out personal development throughout the year by way of either mentoringlcoaching or traininglqualifications. 11
Eastside Arts Company Llmlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Dlrector's Report) feonllnued) Year ended 31 March 2024 Financlal review The results for the year are set out in detail on pages 19 & 20. The company returned a surplus for the year of £58,438 (2023.. surplus of £71.036). At 31 March 2024, the total funds of the charity amounted to £209,728 {2023: £151,290), comprising restricted funds of £109,644 (2023: £83,613) and unrestricted funds of £100,084 (2023: £67,677). The unrestricted funds are essential to provide sufficient funds to cover any unforeseen costs which may arise and fulfil the legal obligations of the charity in the event that current levels of income are not maintained. Resen*s policy and going concern A policy has been implemented by the company in order to recognise the charitys requirements for reserves in light of the main risks to the organisation. It has established a policy whereby the unrestrrcted funds not committed should equate to between 25Yo and 500/0 of annual administration overheads. The aim is to provide sufficient funds to cover any unforeseen costs which may arise. as well as allowing for the payment of any liabilities which would arise should the company cease to operate. The company recognises that such targets may remain aspirational. Trustees, responsibilities staternent The trust88s, who are also directors for the purposes of company law, are responsible for preparing the trustees, report and the financial ststements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the incoming resources and application of resources. including the income and expenditure. for that period. In preparing these financial ststements, the trustees are required to: select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently., obseNe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP- make judgments and accounting estirnates that are reasonable and prudent. state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. prepare the financial statements on the going concem basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeplng adequate accountlng records that are sufficient to show and explain the charivs transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements compSy with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 12
Eastside Arts Company Limited by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (contrnue(lJ Year ended 31 March 2024 Auditor Each of the persons who is a trustee al the date of approval of this report confirms that.. so far as they are aware. there is no relevant audit information of which the charity's auditor is unaware-, and they hzve taken all steps that they ought lo have taken as a trustee lo make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and lo establish that the charity's auditor is aware of that information. The trustees, annual report and the strategic report were approved on 6 December 2024 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by.. Tony Wilson Charity Secretary 13