Arts Taunton - Charities report - 22.2

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 09878922 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1174014

Report of the Trustees and

Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 30 November 2021

for

Arts Taunton

Page

Reference and Administrative Details

1

Report of the Trustees

2

to

6

Independent Examiner's Report

7

Statement of Financial Activities

8

Balance Sheet

9

to

10

Notes to the Financial Statements

11

to

17

TRUSTEES

D F Johnson (appointed 3.1.22)

A J Laurance

T W Mayberry

Mrs J O'Donnell

D A H Rice

J Langdon (resigned 13.9.21)

C Chapman (resigned 12.6.22)

J Abbott (resigned 22.3.22)

Mrs E Hutchin (resigned 5.11.21)

REGISTERED OFFICE

40 St James Buildings

St James Street

Taunton

Somerset

TA1 1JR

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER

09878922 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER

1174014

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 30 November 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

Objectives and aims

To promote for the public benefit in Taunton and the surrounding area:

(A) The arts for the public benefit by providing information, advice, raising awareness, carrying out

research and making grants; and

(B) The arts voluntary sector by promoting collaborative working.

How:

(A) Makes grants to individuals.

(B) Makes grants to organisations.

(C) Provides advocacy/advice/information.

(D) Sponsors or undertakes research.

(E) Acts as an umbrella or resource body.

Public benefit

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of section 17 of the Charities Act

2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission for

England and Wales.

Review of Developments, Activities and Achievements

The Covid pandemic continued to cast its dark shadow over the UK in late 2020 and through much of 2021, affecting all areas of society and all kinds of economic and social activities - including arts and culture. Arts Taunton met regularly as a Board by Zoom throughout this period to continue our efforts to plan and deliver our programme of work in Taunton and the surrounding area. These efforts have focused on four main goals:

1. Championing the arts - speaking up for the arts; making small grants to local arts organisations; engaging the public; influencing local leaders

2. Inspiring and enabling young people to participate in the arts - principally though the delivery of our arts festival for young people, Tyca

3. Promoting public art - focusing on our project for an iconic artwork in Taunton and artworks in strategic locations

4. Helping to shape Taunton's development - to create a quality and sustainable environment; promoting good design and the preservation of Taunton's heritage

Championing the arts

We took every opportunity to promote the arts and speak up for investment in them - through the media, including social media, through our regular meetings with local Council leaders and through our public meetings. We participated in the Cultural Forum convened by the South West and Taunton Council and in other meetings of local arts organisations. We held public meetings in 2020 online because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. More than 80 people joined our meeting in February 2020

We awarded two grants in 2019 through our Art at the Heart programme - to Bluebird's Theatre Company to stage a tongue-in-cheek version of Wagner's Ring in local settings; and to GoCreate to support the creatives for their Pride festival. Both recipients were able to deliver on their creations in 2020 with the help of these grants and they were very well received

We decided in the light of this to run another small grants programme in 2020 with generous financial support from South West and Taunton Council. We received a number of applications which were carefully assessed against published criteria and awarded grants to five organisations totalling £10,000: Southern Sinfonia, Wassail Theatre, Moorvale Creative CIC, Regal Theatre Minehead and Milverton cultural and heritage fairs

Inspiring and enabling young people to participate in the arts

Arts Taunton has been generously supported by the Brownsword Charitable Foundation and by a number of other donors including Trevor Smallwood, Phillip Gibbs, the Schroder Charitable Trust and Somerset West and Taunton Council to deliver an annual arts youth festival for young people, branded Tyca (Taunton Youth Culture and Arts). The shape, size and focus of the festival has evolved since the first one was held in October 2019.

Plans for the second festival in 2020 were heavily affected by Covid. We moved most of the events online but also hoped to stage a number of physical performances in the autumn. However, as it transpired, the entire festival comprising 11 separate events had to be delivered online. Despite this, the number of young people who participated increase substantially compared with 2019

As the vaccination programme rolled out and the threat of Covid receded, we had every hope that would be able to deliver an expanded festival in 2021 with more partners and participants. We adopted the theme of Empowerment and introduced a number of new elements. We recruited a group of young volunteers - the Tyca Crew - to play an active part in planning, marketing and mounting the festival. We organised a number of 'health and well-being' workshops for young people with support from the Somerset Community Foundation and SW&T. We made greater efforts to reach out to young people who had had little or no previous opportunity to participate in the arts.

To our great regret, most of the performances which were scheduled for October 2021 had to be postponed at the very last moment because of a sudden sharp rise in the number of Covid cases in the Taunton area. Some activities still went ahead including a very successful exhibition of art by young people held at the Creative Innovation Centre, a large number of spoken word workshops and a drama performance by Taunton school.

We eventually managed to re-schedule the postponed events in March 2022 including a hugely successful musical performance at the Tacchi_Morris theatre where professional musicians played specially composed pieces alongside young people of varying levels of experience and expertise; and drama and dance performances at the Brewhouse theatre delivered with the support of Somerset Community Theatre.

We are now in the process of planning for Tyca 2022 and 2023 working more closely with schools and endeavouring to reach a larger number and wider range of young people.

Promoting public art

Almost since its inception, Arts Taunton has been pursing the vision of creating an iconic sculpture visible from afar, on a site in or around Taunton. Our original idea was to locate it on Creechbarrow Hill. But in 2020, the Hydrographic Office which owns the site decided that for security reasons,that would not be feasible. We spent many months in 2020-21 exploring and testing other possible alternative locations with generous expert support form LCH Design of Exeter. We tentatively settled on the Park and Ride site at junction 25. However, a rigorous review of the feasibility of the proposal and of the prospects for raising the necessary finance led us eventually to conclude that we would be unlikely to be able to deliver it at the present time and to put the project on ice for the foreseeable future.

We decided instead to focus our energies on promoting public art on a more manageable scale in Taunton town centre, and particularly on Castle Green. We have opened discussions with SW&T and other partners and are hopeful of bringing at least one project to fruition in the near future.

.

Helping to shape Taunton's development

We have continued to play a busy role in helping to preserve and enhance the architecture of Taunton, both in terms of its built heritage and future plans. There have been enormous expansions of the town in almost all directions in recent years, much of it with little of the character of the area. However, Somerset West & Taunton Council has at last acted to provide solid and well-researched design guides to make clear to developers the standard expected from planning proposals. Arts Taunton campaigned hard for this and we will remain alert to ensuring developers take these guides seriously - and to council planners implementing their own recommendations

We have had regular meetings with the Leader, Councillors and senior officers of Somerset West and Taunton Council at which we have raised concerns about plans for key town centre sites including the Debenhams building, the Collar factory and the Firepool site. The future of the former Debenham's building remains uncertain. We objected to the plans by the building's owner to demolish this fine structure. Our campaign received strong backing from SAVE, the architectural heritage campaign group, and the Twentieth Century Society. We have also sought to influence the deigns for phase 2 of the Monkton Heathfield by again, jointly with West Monkton Parish Council, commissioning Create Streets to carry out a review of the developers' outline plans

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial position

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable

accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial

statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 .

Income for the year amounted to £105,571and after expenditure totalling £82,511this left a surplus of £23,060.

This increased retained funds to £63,542. These funds comprise mainly cash at the bank as at the balance sheet date and are split as £9,814 unrestricted funds and £53,728 restricted funds.

The amount accumulating in the bank account is earmarked for future spend such as on

pump-priming influence on our anticipated projects.

Decisions on how to spend money are taken at board meetings and all activities considered within the

parameters of the risk register and against our charitable objects.

Reserves policy

It is the policy of the Charity to maintain unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately 6 months recurring unrestricted expenditure. This provides sufficient funds to cover the costs associated with maintaining the charity for that period. Unrestricted funds were maintained at least at this level throughout the year.

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.

Arts Taunton is a private company limited by guarantee without share capital. The company was

incorporated on 18 November 2015 and is registered in England and Wales with company number

09878922. The company obtained charitable status on 28 July 2017.

The Board of Trustees meets quarterly and has continued to do so via Zoom since the Covid

restrictions were imposed in March 2020. All board members give their time to the charity in a

voluntary capacity including professional and administrative services and advice; none claim travel or

other expenses.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

Recruitment of trustees takes place having regard to diversity principles and gaps in skills and experience of existing board members.

Potential recruits to the board are identified by scanning the arts environment and related relevant

fields, and asking contacts to identify possible suitable applicants who are then interviewed. Potential

board members are invited to attend meetings in a non-voting capacity to enable them to understand

the workings of the charity.

Trustees are required to sign a declaration of trustee interests which are included in a register.

All trustees are advised to familiarise themselves with the Charity Commission’s advice on trustee responsibilities and parameters of operation.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 26 September 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

A J Laurance - Trustee

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Arts Taunton ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 30 November 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

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.

Mr K Parsons

FCCA

Date: 26 September 2022

2021

2020

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

10,496

95,075

105,571

78,784

EXPENDITURE ON

Raising funds

2

15,534

-

15,534

16,550

Charitable activities

Art at the Heart

2,000

10,000

12,000

4,660

Youth Festival

-

54,304

54,304

50,640

Other

673

-

673

11,145

Total

18,207

64,304

82,511

82,995

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

(7,711

)

30,771

23,060

(4,211

)

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

17,525

22,957

40,482

44,693

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

9,814

53,728

63,542

40,482

CONTINUING OPERATIONS

All income and expenditure has arisen from continuing activities.

2021

2020

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors

6

2,521

-

2,521

8,109

Cash at bank

7,293

53,728

61,021

35,988

9,814

53,728

63,542

44,097

NET CURRENT ASSETS

9,814

53,728

63,542

44,097

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

9,814

53,728

63,542

44,097

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due after more than one year

7

-

-

-

(3,615

)

NET ASSETS

9,814

53,728

63,542

40,482

FUNDS

8

Unrestricted funds

9,814

17,525

Restricted funds

53,728

22,957

TOTAL FUNDS

63,542

40,482

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 30 November 2021.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 30 November 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 26 September 2022 and were signed on its behalf by:

D F Johnson - Trustee

1.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

Arts Taunton meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are

initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant

accounting policy notes.

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

All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is

probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to

the applicable expenditure heading . Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated on a basis consistent with the use of resources,

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the year end date are noted as a commitment but not accrued as expenditure.

Charitable activities

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities

and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities

and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. Governance costs which include

costs of the preparation and examination of the statutory accounts, the costs of trustee meetings and

the cost of any legal advice to trustees on governance or constitutional matters, are included within

charitable expenditure.

Taxation

The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010

and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes.

Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains

received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section

256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are

applied exclusively to charitable purposes

Fund accounting

Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees' discretion in

furtherance of the objectives of the charity.

Restricted income funds are those donated for use in a particular area or for specific purposes, the

use of which is restricted to that area or purpose

Going concern

In light of the rapid global spread of the coronavirus "COVID-19," the trustees have reviewed the

charity's operations and cashflow to ensure that the charity is able to continue for the foreseeable

future. The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to

continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of

the assets held by the charity. Further commentary on the impact of COVID-19 is given in the

trustees' report.

Donations and legacies

Donations are recognised when the charity has been notified in writing of both the amount and

settlement date. In the event that a donation is subject to conditions that require a level of

performance by the charity before the charity is entitled to the funds, the income is deferred and not

recognised until either those conditions are fully met, or the fulfilment of those conditions is wholly

within the control of the charity and it is probable that these conditions will be fulfilled in the reporting

period.

Gifts in kind

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when received.

On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised on the basis of the

value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain

services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is

then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

Grants receivable

Grants are recognised when the charity has an entitlement to the funds and any conditions linked to

the grants have been met. Where performance conditions are attached to the grant and are yet to be

met, the income is recognised as a liability and included on the balance sheet as deferred income to

be released.

Grant expenditure

Grants payable are payments made to third parties in the furtherance of the charitable objects of the

charity. Single or multi-year grants are accounted for when either the recipient has a reasonable

expectation that they will receive a grant and the trustees have agreed to pay the grant without

condition, or the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and any

condition attaching to the grant is outside of the control of the charity.

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

Financial instruments

Classification

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial

instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially measured at transaction value and subsequently

measured at the carrying value plus accrued interest less repayments. The financing charge to

expenditure is at a constant rate calculated using the effective interest method

2.	RAISING FUNDS

Raising donations and legacies

2021

2020

£

£

Support costs

15,534

16,550

3.	NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):

2021

2020

£

£

Hire of property

-

684

4.	TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 30 November 2021 nor for the year ended 30 November 2020.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 30 November 2021 nor for the year ended 30 November 2020.

5.	COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

fund

funds

funds

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

12,784

66,000

78,784

EXPENDITURE ON

Raising funds

16,550

-

16,550

Charitable activities

Art at the Heart

4,660

-

4,660

Youth Festival

-

50,640

50,640

Other

11,145

-

11,145

Total

32,355

50,640

82,995

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

(19,571

)

15,360

(4,211

)

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

37,096

7,597

44,693

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

17,525

22,957

40,482

6.	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

2021

2020

£

£

Other debtors

2,521

8,109

7.	CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE AFTER MORE THAN ONE YEAR

2021

2020

£

£

Accruals and deferred income

-

3,615

8.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Net

At

movement

At

1.12.20

in funds

30.11.21

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

17,525

(7,711

)

9,814

Restricted funds

TYCA

22,957

30,771

53,728

TOTAL FUNDS

40,482

23,060

63,542

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

10,496

(18,207

)

(7,711

)

Restricted funds

TYCA

85,075

(54,304

)

30,771

Art at the Heart

10,000

(10,000

)

-

95,075

(64,304

)

30,771

TOTAL FUNDS

105,571

(82,511

)

23,060

Comparatives for movement in funds

Net

At

movement

At

1.12.19

in funds

30.11.20

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

37,096

(19,571

)

17,525

Restricted funds

TYCA

7,597

15,360

22,957

TOTAL FUNDS

44,693

(4,211

)

40,482

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

12,784

(32,355

)

(19,571

)

Restricted funds

TYCA

66,000

(50,640

)

15,360

TOTAL FUNDS

78,784

(82,995

)

(4,211

)

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows:

Net

At

movement

At

1.12.19

in funds

30.11.21

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

37,096

(27,282

)

9,814

Restricted funds

TYCA

7,597

46,131

53,728

TOTAL FUNDS

44,693

18,849

63,542

A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

23,280

(50,562

)

(27,282

)

Restricted funds

TYCA

151,075

(104,944

)

46,131

Art at the Heart

10,000

(10,000

)

-

161,075

(114,944

)

46,131

TOTAL FUNDS

184,355

(165,506

)

18,849

9.	RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 30 November 2021.