Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: SC052742
Report of the Trustees and
Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
for
Push The Boat Out SCIO
EQ Accountants Ltd 41 Charlotte Square Edinburgh EH2 4HQ
Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
| Page | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Report of the Trustees | 1 | to | 8 |
| Independent Examiner's Report | 9 | ||
| Statement of Financial Activities | 10 | ||
| Balance Sheet | 11 | ||
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 12 | to | 1 |
| Detailed Statement of Financial Activities | 1 |
Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2025. 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
Objectives and aims
The organisation's purposes are:
(a) To advance the arts, culture and heritage primarily, but not exclusively, through the organisation, production and presentation of annual or one off festivals, and year round events, relating to poetry, spoken word, performance and related artforms, and ideas and discourse.
(b) To advance the education of the general public in all areas relating to poetry, spoken word, performance and related art forms, and ideas and discourse.
Our vision is a world where poetry in all its myriad forms can grow, evolve, and expand its boundaries as a vibrant and meaningful part of people's everyday lives. Our mission is to bring artists, audiences, and participants together to access, create, celebrate, and make meaning through experiencing the vibrant range of contemporary poetry and related artforms from Scotland and beyond, both at the annual festival and year-round programme.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Achievements and performance
Push the Boat Out Arts SCIO worked throughout 2025 to deliver an annual festival and a year-round programme, which included a strong community engagement element. In April 2025, we were delighted to become part of Creative Scotland's portfolio of Multi-year Funded organisations.
Festival
Push the Boat Out Festival 2025 took place from 20 to 23 November. We were thrilled to return to the Pleasance, bringing the whole of the main festival into one of Edinburgh's most iconic, vibrant festival venues. We also introduced a series of "warm-up" events, which included online reading groups and a performance at the Fingal Ship Hotel. Further, we extended the programme by a day, beginning on Thursday, to enable us to host a schools showcase of work created by pupils in three Edinburgh High Schools, as part of our partnership programme with Amnesty International UK, Words that Burn.
Across the festival, we continued to develop our unique contribution in creating a space where poetry comes together in conversation with other art forms and offers a place for artists and audiences alike to play and experiment with these juxtapositions.
Our diverse and exciting programme featured over 120 poets and artists, emerging and established (all paid for their contributions), across 61 events, over four days. We offered an eclectic and varied bill of event types including artist talks, installations, readings & discussions, headliners, an exciting range of workshops, music gigs, newly commissioned cross-art form performances, an artists' development day, and community performances.
The festival was shaped by three broad themes: Poetry is Punk offered a timely reminder that poetry should be accessible to everyone: relevant, raw, subversive and DIY; Anthropocene: The Human-Altered World explored how the things humankind has created have changed our world - and even our bodies - in unanticipated and perhaps irreversible ways; while The Unseen World asked us to consider from where we draw comfort in a challenging world, looking at how we predict the future, make sense of the moment and understand the past.
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Push The Boat Out SCIO
Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Achievements and performance
A few highlights of the programme included:
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A broad range of in-person events featuring some of the UK's foremost poets - Pascale Petit, Anthony V Caplideo, Karen Solie, Fiona Benson, Nick Makoha, Luke Kennard, Hollie McNish, Hannah Lavery, Michael Pedersen, Peter Mackay, Len Pennie and many more - as well as in-person appearances from Najwan Darwish (a Palestinian poet currently resident in France), Mátyás Dunajcsik (Germany) and Sree Sen, Kemi George Simpson, Jessica Traynor and Dean Browne (all Republic of Ireland).
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A series of international online events featuring incredible artists including Victoria Chang, Noor Hindi, Vidyan Ravinthiran and more.
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An imaginative programme of poetry in unexpected contexts, including a poetry and perfume workshop in partnership with Lush, a wine tasting with Leena Norms and Great Grog, a taster workshop with the Scottish Poetry choir, a poetry and yoga workshop with Spencer Mason, poetry walks on Portobello beach with clare e. potter and through Holyrood Park with Anthony V. Capildeo and an incredible exhibition of the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay (2025-2006) supported by his estate as part of his Centenary celebrations.
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Embodying our value of collaboration, we hosted several takeovers by other poetry and arts collectives. These included: a night of Gaelic poetry and song with Bothan Dhùn Èideann; the launch of Magma Poetry Magazine's Liberation edition; takeovers from Glasgow City of Poets and the Shore Poets; and an incredible festival finale by Tinderbox Orchestra with rappers, poets and singers as they launched their first spoken word single. We also hosted the Edinburgh heat of the Loud Poets slam series.
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A Saturday night gig with a dreamy soundscape of synths, loops, poetry, pedals and an immersive visual backdrop from poet Ellen Renton and legendary Edinburgh DJ Lord of the Isles, supported by Acolyte.
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We were thrilled to literally push the boat out with a sold out festival warm-up event with Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen. This took place in the luxurious surroundings of the historic Fingal Hotel, a 5-star floating hotel in Leith and a refurbished former lighthouse tender, the last ship to be built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company.
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Scratch performances of new spoken word shows from RJ Hunter and Gray Crosbie, alongside a performance from Harry Josephine Giles and the Edinburgh trans choir, as well as a scratch performance from Karen McCarthy Woolf and Kerensa, which sets to music the voices of the antique dolls from the novel in verse Top Doll.
As well as supporting these types of artistic experiments, we also commissioned and supported other work that embodied our value of play, with a literary treasure hunt from More Fun With Games, who invited us to experience the Autonomous Poetry Zone through a specially created mobile web app game. We also worked with Tinderbox Collective's games club whose young people created a playable video game installation inspired by the poetry of Edwin Morgan.
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Push The Boat Out SCIO
Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Achievements and performance
New Work
In meeting our goals to both create opportunities for poetry to be in conversation with other art forms and to create paid opportunities for poets to experiment and make new work, we continued to commission new and unusual work and collaborations.
One element of this took the form of an open call for new pieces in association with the National Theatre of Scotland. Investigating the theme of 'Anthropocene: the Human-Altered World', each performance paired poetry with a different artistic discipline. They showcased inventive cross-disciplinary work ranging from film and theatre to electronica and therapeutic sound with new performances from Iona Lee & Nikki Kent, Garry Mackenzie & Sam Firth, and Scots Scriever Taylor Dyson, Craig Aitchison, James Wyness and Calum Kelly.
We also worked with new theatre collective What Now? to commission three plays specially for the festival by Hannah Lavery, Zinnie Harris and William Letford. An exciting mix of new work, works in progress, and adaptations, these short scratch pieces offered an urgent response to the geopolitical cultural moment we're living through.
Finally, we commissioned new work from Marjorie Lotfi and Najwan Darwish which explored the uniquely challenging experience of creating art from afar when your homeland (Iran and Palestine respectively) is in conflict.
"I was delighted to have got the commission, and to have taken part in the festival. The collaboration has definitely pushed my work in a new direction, is going to result in a more sustained collaboration [...], and has produced work that will also be published in print form." Commissioned Artist, 2025
Audiences
We welcomed audiences of just over 1,820 to our events, generating ticket revenue of over £14,300. We were delighted to see this increase in our reach (25%) and ticket income (44%) compared with 2024. We were particularly pleased with this increase in income, despite holding ticket prices at the same level as 2024 and offering even more free or Pay What You Can (PWYC) events.
We once again sold festival passes allowing holders to get free or discounted tickets to the majority of events. We sold 48 festival passes, through which a total of 386 tickets were booked. This represents an average of eight per holder which is an increase from last year.
"[The festival pass] was great! Value for money and encouraged me as a visiting writer to attend as many events as I could within the timeframe of the festival." Pass holder
"The pass offered the flexibility to take risks with shows I might otherwise have missed." Pass holder Through our box office, 68% of all ticket buyers provided information about their age, location, and previous engagement with the festival.
We continue to attract younger audiences (5% 16-24; 52% 25-44; 29% 45-64; 14% 65+). This is a younger audience profile than might be expected for a poetry festival, which we believe reflects the brand, programming and our goal to bring poetry to new audiences. Indeed, while 35% of audience members had attended Push the Boat before, 65% were new to engaging with us, showing an excellent increase in reach.
"I would not normally have attended something like this but so glad I did. The events were definitely varied but the pass made it accessible and I loved everything being over the same weekend." Audience member
"I really loved the festival - it felt like a really special gathering of poets descending upon Edinburgh for the day. I loved running into different poets, going to events, taking notes, buying books, having a coffee on site, and everything about it. Really excellent festival." Audience member
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Push The Boat Out SCIO
Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Achievements and performance
In keeping with previous years, our largest audience numbers were from Edinburgh (61%). 6% joined from the Lothians, and 7% joined from Glasgow. 13% joined us from the rest of Scotland with visitors from as far afield as Orkney, Lewis, Islay, Aberdeenshire and Dumfries and Galloway. The remaining 13% came from outside of Scotland, with people joining us from Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as London and the South East, the North East and North West, South West and East Anglia. We also had attendance, both online and in-person, from Europe and the US, as well as Australia, Saudi Arabia and India.
"Think the festival punches above its weight and is a much-needed and welcome addition to the cultural landscape in Scotland." Audience member
Ticket prices were held at the same level as in 2024. We also strove to maintain affordability, with a wide range of inclusive prices for our events.
Audiences once again were very positive about their experience of the festival. 71% of attendees agreed that Push the Boat Out offers something unique and necessary in Edinburgh and Scotland's busy arts scene. Audiences again felt the programme offered choice and a variety of high-quality events where they could both be confident of finding something they knew they would enjoy, and take risks and see something new. The quality of events was seen as very high - on a scale of 1 to 5, 82% of respondents rated it as 4 or above. Similarly, 90% of respondents rated the likelihood of recommending the festival to others as 4 or above.
"I love the festival and congratulate you on another provocative and successful year!" Audience member Most respondents felt that staff and volunteers were knowledgeable and welcoming. 86% of respondents ranked the Pleasance as a minimum of 4 out of 5.
Community Engagement Programme
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We believe that poetry and the arts should be a meaningful part of people's everyday lives. It is a key goal for PTBO to broaden audiences for poetry and contribute to removing some of the barriers that marginalised groups face in accessing and enjoying poetry and other creative experiences.
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Expanding our engagement programme to do this more effectively has been a long-held goal, and something we were able to move towards in 2025. We sustained our partnership with SCOREScotland, developed our work with Tinderbox Collective and introduced new relationships with the Simon Community Scotland and Amnesty International UK. We also continued to host an event by Open Book during the festival. In total, we supported nearly 270 community participants.
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SCORE is based in Wester Hailes, one of Scotland's most deprived areas, where they work with the community to support people facing discrimination and develop programmes to address the causes and effects of racism and promote racial equality. This year, we took our collaboration with SCORE into Wester Hailes High School, offering two lunch time taster sessions to build interest followed by 8 after school workshops to support young people to create work that was subsequently performed at the festival. We worked with 36 young people in total, with 6 performing at the festival. The workshops enabled the young people to develop creative skills, build their self-confidence and develop new relationships.
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In spring 2025, we were delighted to be approached by Amnesty International UK (AIUK) to be the partner for a Scottish pilot of their Words that Burn project. This is a project that trains teachers in using resources to support their students to explore and understand human rights through poetry. The collaboration enabled us to engage with young people and schools, working with Leith Academy, Portobello High School and Boroughmuir High School. In total, 7 teachers were trained in using AIUK's Words that Burn resources and this was delivered to over 200 young people across in-class lessons, with 70 performing at the festival. An external evaluation commissioned by AIUK was very positive, showing support in confidence-building, community formation, emotional and critical expression, and emerging social awareness among young people. The project shifted pupils' perceptions of poetry from something distant or analytical to something accessible, meaningful, and expressive.
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Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Achievements and performance
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The Simon Community Scotland believes that everyone deserves a safe place to live and access to the support they need. Every day they support people impacted by homelessness or at risk of losing their home. In early 2025, they approached us to work with them as part of their Streetreads project. Streetreads is a physical library in Edinburgh that has grown into an integral part of the community, serving as a hub for learning and connection. Poet Julie McNeill worked with a group who attend Streetreads over 11 weeks to inspire them to get interested in poetry and to create their own work for a zine exploring their hopes and stories. This was launched at a sold out event at the festival with a digital version to follow. The project supported the group to explore issues through poetry that they hadn't been able to talk about in other ways, and built their confidence. Up to 15 people attended each workshop session, with 20 coming to the launch event.
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With poet Colin Bramwell, we worked with 13 young people who attend the Tinderbox Collective Games Club in Wester Hailes to support them to design a new video game inspired by the poetry of Edwin Morgan. Bringing poetry into the process was a new experience for many of the participants. They all explored writing their own poems which then fed into the game concept, as well as looking at existing games that incorporate poetry for creative inspiration. The game was shown as a playable installation at the festival and at North Edinburgh Arts. Families have commented on how the game is one of the most polished and well-finished games the young people have made to date.
Artist Development and Support for the Creative Sector
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A key ambition for PTBO is to support the development of artists, poets and other creative practitioners in Scotland. Measures to do this included:
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A free development day which offered several panels and workshops to support aspiring and emerging poets to develop their practice. This included sessions on starting your own project or event, how to succeed as a creative freelancer and skills for hosting or compering events. We also offered two opportunities to attend a session run by Amnesty International UK about how to use their Words that Burn resources - see above - in one's own practice. The day was attended by 104 artists, who were also offered networking opportunities over a catered lunch. 100% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the workshops were enjoyable and enabled them to learn something new and to network with their peers. They also agreed that the workshops were well run and of good quality.
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Following excellent feedback from its first year, we continued our partnership with the University of Edinburgh, to run and further develop the ConVERSE: Emerging Chairs programme. Working with the Languages and Literature Department and Writer in Residence, Mary Paulson-Ellis, we offered training in chairing literature events to their post-graduate students along with a clear process to be selected for paid opportunities to chair events at the festival. Five students chaired events at the festival, giving them valuable experience to bring to their future careers.
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Across 2025, PTBO generated over £42,000 in fees for poets and other artists, including the fees paid through our year-round and engagement programmes this year. We commissioned work from 13 poets, artists and musicians, adding to an exceptional body of work by the Scottish poetry community and offering opportunities to collaborate and experiment. As well as providing a platform for work to reach audiences, we created book sales and valuable opportunities for knowledge exchange, professional development and social connection.
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We offered training, experience and opportunities to develop skills for 15 volunteers during the festival who provided 123 hours of voluntary support in total. All volunteers were offered free access to festival events.
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We continued to work with a paid Programme Committee, ensuring that a range of voices, perspectives and expertise were included in our planning. Many thanks for their contribution to this year's committee go to: Hannah Lavery, Niall O'Gallagher, Jazmine Linklater, Sharmilla Beezmohun and Jamie Pettinger.
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Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Achievements and performance
Diversity and Inclusion
We continue to enshrine diversity, inclusion and access in our programming and delivery.
We know that financial barriers are one of the biggest challenges in widening access to arts festivals and we addressed this in multiple ways. We offered free tickets to the groups supported by partners in our engagement programme, held prices at 2024 levels with a wide range of concessionary tickets available and offered free and PWYC pricing for 23 events (up from 16 in 2023). We sold 161 free tickets and 258 via the PWYC scheme. Our festival pass allowed those who wanted to attend a higher number of events to do so in a more affordable way. Over 92% of post festival survey respondents felt the ticket pricing was appropriate or that they would have paid more.
Almost all events took place in fully accessible venues, and over 10% of our events were BSL interpreted. More than one third of events were offered online or hybrid, including via our continuing partnership with EHFM community radio. We increased the number of live-streamed events to five this year, up from one in 2024. Over 90% of survey respondents said that access in the venue was adequate or excellent.
62% of our artists completed an equalities form (an increase from 50% in 2024). Around one third of the programmed artists came from ethnic backgrounds other than White British (taking British to include Scottish, Welsh and Irish identities), and over 60% identified as women or non-binary. 10% of the programme also explicitly platformed Scotland's indigenous languages of Scots and Gaelic.
OPERATIONAL AND GOVERNANCE
We have continued to develop robust governance to support us as we grow. This included another round of board recruitment bringing our total board numbers to 10, with new members including poets, creative industries professionals and non-profit experts.
FUNDRAISNG
We were incredibly grateful to all of our funders and sponsors throughout the year. We received grants from Creative Scotland, William Grant Foundation, William Syson Foundation, Hugo Burge Foundation, David Summers Charitable Trust, Culture Ireland and City of Edinburgh Council. Our engagement programme was supported by the Nancie Massey Charitable Trust, the Ponton Charitable Trust and the One City Trust.
We were also supported both through sponsorship and in-kind contributions by a number of brilliant organisations for which we are very grateful - Gaelic Book Council, National Theatre of Scotland, Goethe-Institut, Speaking Volumes, the Irish Consulate and our engagement programme partners.
Our individual donors of all levels were incredibly generous and made a huge contribution to our ability to deliver our vision.
FU URE PLANS
As we enter the second year of our funding agreement with Creative Scotland, with a strengthened board and staff team, we are continuing to work towards our strategic aims. We look forward to further developing our artistic and engagement programmes and, as funding allows, offering more artist development support. As we move into 2026, we are excited to work with even more artists, freelancers, communities and audiences as we support and celebrate poetry in all its glorious forms.
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Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Financial position
The trustees have agreed a reserves policy stating that we should hold 3 - 6 months' core costs in a non-festival period. This is necessary to enable the charity to have enough working capital to cover any timing discrepancies between income and expenditure, as well as allowing the charity to continue to operate and fundraise if a major funding source is lost or another unforeseen event occurs. This level is calculated to be between £24,000 and £48,000. Our unrestricted reserves of £3 meet this requirement.
Our biggest funders were Creative Scotland (£88,825), City of Edinburgh Council (£20,000), William Grant Foundation (£15,000) and the Hugo Burge Foundation (£11,500). We also received £18,824 of donations from incredibly generous individuals, including £318 through people donating whilst buying tickets and £118 through our newly introduced Friends scheme.
Push The Boat Out Arts SCIO's multi-year funding of £94,500 a year from Creative Scotland, entering our second year from April 2026, together with the reserves level, allows the Trustees to be confident the Charity can continue to operate over the next 12 months and beyond.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document
Push the Boat Out Arts SCIO has been a registered SCIO since 13th August 2024. It is governed by its Constitution, which was adopted on its registration. Prior to this Push the Boat Out festival was run by a separate entity, a Company Limited by Guarantee (SC655923), which has now been struck off.
Trustee recruitment and appointment
The board may at any time appoint any person to be a charity trustee by way of a resolution passed by majority vote at a board meeting. Trustees can hold their position for up to three years and then may be re-elected to a second term at the AGM. In 2026, open recruitment was undertaken to expand the board and to appoint a new Chairperson. We were delighted to formally appoint Ola Wojtkiewicz to this role in December 2025. We are very grateful to Helen Chomczuk for her incredible support and dedication while acting as interim Chair for the preceding part of the year.
Training needs of trustees are assessed in an ongoing manner, with action taken to source appropriate training as required.
Organisational structure, decision-making and risk management
The Board of Trustees are also the Members of the organisation and have overall responsibility for its running. Operational authority is delegated to a Director, supported by a staff team. The company has a live risk register, which is maintained by the Director and reviewed by the Trustees at each Board meeting. Each risk has had mitigating actions identified.
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Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number SC052742
Principal address
Trustees
Emily Arnold-Fernandez (appointed 5/12/25) Helen Chomczuk Jennifer Howard-Coombes (Treasurer) Hannah Lavery (appointed 18/12/25) Theresa Munoz (appointed 17/9/25) Jenny Niven Jess Orr Eleanor White Jennifer White Ola Wojtkiewicz (Chair, appointed 5/12/25)
Independent Examiner
EQ Accountants Ltd 41 Charlotte Square Edinburgh EH2 4HQ
07-05-2026 | 13:16 BST Approved by order of the board of trustees on ............................................. and signed on its behalf by:
........................................................................ E65CCF34F5FF4FF... Ola Wojtkiewicz - Trustee
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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Push The Boat Out SCIO
Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Push The Boat Out SCIO
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Push The Boat Out SCIO (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under Section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by Section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.
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.
Mr W R Paterson FCCA
EQ Accountants Ltd 41 Chalotte Square Edinburgh EH2 4HQ 07-05-2026 | 13:26 BST Date: .............................................
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Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
| Unrestricted fund Notes £ INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies 3 149,978 Charitable activities 4 Charitable activities 14,663 Total 164,641 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable activities 5 Charitable activities 152,375 NET INCOME 12,266 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 24,575 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 36,841 |
Restricted funds £ 34,340 - 34,340 34,165 175 - 175 |
31/12/25 31/12/24 Total Total funds funds £ £ 184,318 175,191 14,663 9,925 198,981 185,116 186,540 160,541 12,441 24,575 24,575 - 37,016 24,575 |
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The notes form part of these financial statements
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Balance Sheet 31 December 2025
| 31/12/25 | 31/12/24 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |||
| fund | funds | funds | funds | |||
| Notes | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| CURRENT ASSETS | ||||||
| Debtors | 8 | 11,505 | - | 11,505 | 14,269 | |
| Cash at bank and in hand | 34,476 | 175 | 34,651 | 21,065 | ||
| CREDITORS | 45,981 | 175 | 46,156 | 35,334 | ||
| Amounts falling due within one year | 9 | (9,140) | - | (9,140) | (10,759) | |
| NET CURRENT ASSETS | 36,841 | 175 | 37,016 | 24,575 | ||
| TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT | ||||||
| LIABILITIES | 36,841 | 175 | 37,016 | 24,575 | ||
| NET ASSETS | 36,841 | 175 | 37,016 | 24,575 | ||
| FUNDS | 10 | |||||
| Unrestricted funds | 36,841 | 24,575 | ||||
| Restricted funds | 175 | - | ||||
| TOTAL FUNDS | 37,016 | 24,575 |
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 07-05-2026 | 13:16 BST............................................. and were signed on its behalf by:
[0 ............................................. DocuSignedE65CCF34F5FF4FF...[WW][ oft] by:[LQ] ;[ uv] Ola Wojtkiewicz - Trustee
The notes form part of these financial statements
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Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
1. STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE
These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland', the 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) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charity Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of preparing the financial statements
The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis and relate solely to the individual entity.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity and are rounded to the nearest pound.
Only larger entities, as defined in the Charities SORP (FRS 102), must provide a statement of cash flows in their financial statements. Accordingly, as the charity is not a larger entity, it has not presented a statement of cash flows.
Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty
The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.
Significant judgements:
The management do not consider that there are any judgements (for those involving estimations see the following paragraphs) they have made in the process of applying the entity's accounting policies that will have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements. Key sources of estimation uncertainty:
In allocating expenditure to activities the management require to estimate the proportion of staff time spent on an activity. Notwithstanding the foregoing the management do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty that have a a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.
Income
Income from donations or grants is recognised when there is evidence of entitlement to the gift, receipt is probable and its amount can be measured reliably.
Donated facilities and services are recognised in the accounts when received if the value can be reliably measured. No amounts are included for the contribution of general volunteers.
Income from contracts for the supply of services is recognised with the delivery of the contracted service. This is classified as unrestricted funds unless there is a contractual requirement for it to be spent on a particular purpose and returned if unspent, in which case it may be regarded as restricted.
Expenditure
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred and is classified under the appropriate heading in the statement of financial activities to which it relates. As the charity is not registered for VAT expenditure is stated gross of VAT.
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expenditure on raising funds includes those costs incurred in attracting grants and donations, and those incurred in activities that raise funds.
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expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities that further its charitable aims for the benefit of its beneficiaries, including those support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities.
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support costs are those costs incurred to facilitate an activity. Support costs relating to a specific activity are allocated directly to that activity.
continued...
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Push The Boat Out SCIO
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES - continued
Expenditure
All costs are allocated to expenditure categories reflecting the use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and consistent basis.
Taxation
The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.
Fund accounting
All of the funds of the charity are unrestricted and are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes.
Hire purchase and leasing commitments
Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
Going concern
There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.
Financial instruments
The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where it is recognised at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument. Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received and not discounted.
Debtors
Debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
Cash at bank and in hand
Cash at bank and in hand consists of short term highly liquid bank deposits none of which have a notice period exceeding 7 days.
Creditors and provisions
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
3. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
| Gift Aid Donations Trusts & foundations Push The Boat Out Government grant Programme partners In-kind contribution |
31/12/25 £ 3,387 15,437 33,896 - 123,173 3,395 5,030 184,318 |
31/12/24 £ - 24,617 19,200 27,853 96,127 6,744 650 175,191 |
|---|---|---|
Government grants: grants of £20,000, £2,848 and £88,825 were received in the period from The City of Edinburgh Council, Culture Ireland and Creative Scotland respectively.
continued...
Page 13
Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
3. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES - continued
Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:
| 31/12/25 £ Government Grants 123,173 4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 31/12/25 Activity £ Ticket sales Charitable activities 14,663 5. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS Support Direct costs (see Costs note 6) £ £ Charitable activities 171,952 14,588 6. SUPPORT COSTS Governance Management costs £ £ Charitable activities 12,800 1,788 |
31/12/24 £ 96,127 31/12/24 £ 9,925 Totals £ 186,540 Totals £ 14,588 |
|---|---|
Of the support costs the independent examiner's remuneration for the independent examination of £ is the only expense which the trustees consider to be a governance cost.
Support costs, included in the above, are as follows:
Management
| Staff costs | 31/12/25 31/12/24 Charitable Total activities activities £ £ 6,200 4,600 |
|---|---|
| Insurance | 661 528 |
| Sundries | 1,775 1,193 |
| Software | 1,526 1,115 |
| Bad debts | 2,638 - |
| 12,800 7,436 |
continued...
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Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
6. SUPPORT COSTS - continued Governance costs
| SUPPORT COSTS - continued Governance costs |
||
|---|---|---|
| 31/12/25 | 31/12/24 | |
| Charitable | Total | |
| activities | activities | |
| £ | £ | |
| Independent examiners' fee | 1,788 | 1,380 |
7. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS
There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 December 2025 nor for the year ended 31 December 2024.
Trustees' expenses
There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 December 2025 nor for the year ended 31 December 2024.
8. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
| Other debtors | 31/12/25 31/12/24 £ £ 7,693 10,569 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gift Aid | 3,812 3,700 |
|||
| 11,505 14,269 |
||||
| 9. | CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR | |||
| Trade creditors | 31/12/25 31/12/24 £ £ 1,914 1,224 |
|||
| Other creditors | 7,226 9,535 |
|||
| 9,140 10,759 |
||||
| 10. | MOVEMENT IN FUNDS | |||
| Unrestricted funds | At 1/1/25 £ |
Net movement At in funds 31/12/25 £ £ |
||
| General fund | 24,575 | 12,266 36,841 |
||
| Restricted funds | ||||
| One City | - | 175 175 |
||
| TOTAL FUNDS | 24,575 | 12,441 37,016 |
continued...
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Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued
Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
| Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds Book Week Scotland ECC Garrick Nancie Massie One City Ponton Score Scotland Simon Community TOTAL FUNDS |
Incoming resources £ 164,641 700 20,000 1,500 2,000 4,695 3,000 1,670 775 34,340 198,981 |
Resources Movement expended in funds £ £ (152,375) 12,266 (700) - (20,000) - (1,500) - (2,000) - (4,520) 175 (3,000) - (1,670) - (775) - (34,165) 175 (186,540) 12,441 |
|---|---|---|
Comparatives for movement in funds
| Unrestricted funds General fund TOTAL FUNDS Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows: Incoming resources £ Unrestricted funds General fund 185,116 TOTAL FUNDS 185,116 |
Net movement At in funds 31/12/24 £ £ 24,575 24,575 24,575 24,575 Resources Movement expended in funds £ £ (160,541) 24,575 (160,541) 24,575 |
|---|---|
continued...
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Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued
A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows:
| Net | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| movement | At | ||
| At 1/1/24 | in funds | 31/12/25 | |
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Unrestricted funds | |||
| General fund | - | 36,841 | 36,841 |
| Restricted funds | |||
| One City | - | 175 | 175 |
| TOTAL FUNDS | - | 37,016 | 37,016 |
A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:
| Unrestricted funds General fund Restricted funds Book Week Scotland ECC Garrick Nancie Massie One City Ponton Score Scotland Simon Community TOTAL FUNDS |
Incoming resources £ 349,757 700 20,000 1,500 2,000 4,695 3,000 1,670 775 34,340 384,097 |
Resources Movement expended in funds £ £ (312,916) 36,841 (700) - (20,000) - (1,500) - (2,000) - (4,520) 175 (3,000) - (1,670) - (775) - (34,165) 175 (347,081) 37,016 |
|---|---|---|
11. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES
There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 December 2025.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
12. TAXATION
The company is a registered charity and as such its activities fall within the exemptions afforded by Section 505 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. Accordingly, no provision is considered necessary for taxation.
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Docusign Envelope ID: 58C717D2-8E73-8F21-834E-2033F07EB72D
Push The Boat Out SCIO
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 December 2025
| 31/12/25 | 31/12/24 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |
| funds | funds | funds | funds | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS | ||||
| Donations and legacies | ||||
| Gift Aid | 3,387 | - | 3,387 | - |
| Donations | 15,437 | - | 15,437 | 24,617 |
| Trusts & foundations | 22,700 | 11,196 | 33,896 | 19,200 |
| Push The Boat Out | - | - | - | 27,853 |
| Government grant | 102,474 | 20,699 | 123,173 | 96,127 |
| Programme partners | 950 | 2,445 | 3,395 | 6,744 |
| In-kind contribution | 5,030 | - | 5,030 | 650 |
| Charitable activities | 149,978 | 34,340 | 184,318 | 175,191 |
| Ticket sales | 14,663 | - | 14,663 | 9,925 |
| Total incoming resources | 164,641 | 34,340 | 198,981 | 185,116 |
| EXPENDITURE | ||||
| Charitable activities | ||||
| Staff costs | 51,964 | 9,301 | 61,265 | 61,296 |
| Festival programme | 15,238 | 19,286 | 34,524 | 38,625 |
| Marketing | 13,946 | 1,000 | 14,946 | 18,851 |
| Festival production | 37,632 | 4,578 | 42,210 | 29,004 |
| Year round programme | 5,527 | - | 5,527 | 3,949 |
| Engagement | 13,480 | - | 13,480 | - |
| Support costs | 137,787 | 34,165 | 171,952 | 151,725 |
| Management | ||||
| Staff costs | 6,200 | - | 6,200 | 4,600 |
| Insurance | 661 | - | 661 | 528 |
| Sundries | 1,775 | - | 1,775 | 1,193 |
| Software | 1,526 | - | 1,526 | 1,115 |
| Bad debts | 2,638 | - | 2,638 | - |
| Governance costs | 12,800 | - | 12,800 | 7,436 |
| Independent examiners' fee | 1,788 | - | 1,788 | 1,380 |
| Total resources expended | 152,375 | 34,165 | 186,540 | 160,541 |
| Net income | 12,266 | 175 | 12,441 | 24,575 |
This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements
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