The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).
The aims and objectives of the charity as set out in Flute Theatre's Articles of Association dated 31 August 2015 are:
'To advance the arts for the general public including special provision for those on the autismm spectrum'.
2022-2023 An overview
Flute has concentrated on three strands of work during the year.
The continuation of our London community project, “Celebrating Autism”performing with autistic individuals at Riverside Studios in west London, funded by John Lyon’s Charity.
Creating a mainstage production of Pericles to combine with our existing production of Pericles for autistic individuals to create a tour of both productions. This has become known as our Double Pericles.
Creating a unique project for Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Bulgaria, responding to the outbreak of war in February 2022
TABLE 1: AN OVERVIEW
Number of individuals autistic and neurotypical engaged with during 2022-23 | |||
Performances for autistic individuals | General audiences | ||
Autistic Individuals | Number of Performances | General Audiences | Number of Performances |
1436 | 169 | 847 | 15 |
Our charities aims and objectives have been met during the year in the following ways:
Celebrating Autism
John Lyon's Charity awarded Flute Theatre three more years of funding to continue our existing project with autistic individuals and their families until 2025. For the delivery of the project we have performed both our Tempest for autistic individuals and our Pericles for autistic individuals at Riverside Studios throughout the year for our existing community of autistic particpants and their families during each half term and the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays. The cohort of new autistic individuals joining us continues to grow, with participants ranging from 3 years old to 33.
Feedback:
“I had a wonderful experience watching the Tempest, but also witnessing my son Aime enjoying himself immensely and participating with gusto and enthusiasm. The cast and facilitators, guides, buddies have exceptional empathy and talent to include the participants with autism . As a parent I was moved to tears by all participating and the gentleness of the actors/actresses . Some moments were absolutely MAGICAL”.
“It was a wonderful experience and I'm very glad to have been able to seen it. The inclusive and welcoming feeling in the room was fantastic, the care and commitment shown by everyone present (students, carers, company and audience members) demonstrated just how much further theatre can (and should) go to be truly inclusive. It was very thought provoking from a practitioner's view point, but incredibly joyous, from a human point of view, to see the students opening up and responding through play. Every theatre should be offering this to their communities as part of their work. Thank you for having me along!”
“It was wonderful to sense how much pleasure and positivity everybody in the room was deriving from the event. Resistant and anxious at first, our son was encouraged to participate fully and as a measure of the success of the project, he has said he would like to do more! Thank you to all the team for your enthusiasm and effervescence”.
TABLE 2 CELEBRATING AUTISM
Month | Week | Day | Performances for Autistic Individuals | Unique opportunities for Autistic Individuals | Descriptions |
April | 1 |
| 10 | 80 | Tempest Riverside |
July-August | 1 |
| 10 | 80 | Tempest Riverside |
October | 1 |
| 10 | 80 | Queensmill Riverside |
November | 1 |
| 4 | 32 | Pericles double Riverside |
December |
| 2 | 4 | 32 | Pericles Riverside |
February | 1 |
| 9 | 72 | Tempest Riverside |
TOTAL | 5 | 2 | 47 | 356 |
|
Pericles Double
“The finest Pericles of recent years” Fringe Review★★★★
We premiered our Pericles Double performances at the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival in Romania in May 2022. Thereafter, the tour of our Pericles Double performances became the primary artistic activity for the rest of the year. We made our UK premieres in November 2022 at:
Riverside Studios
The Old Market Brighton
In March 2023 we began a Spring/Summer tour of our Double Pericles, performing at:
Mercury Theatre Colchester
Virginia Primary School Tower Hamlets
Notre Dame Refugee Centre Leicester Square.
The same company of actors performs Kelly Hunter’s new adaptation of Pericles; 100 minutes long, all actors on stage throughout the performance with live music played throughout.
Immediately after the performance, the same company of actors performs our Pericles for autistic individuals. In Romania, we performed in Romanian with Romanian autistic individuals.
In May 2022, The double performances marked Flute Theatre’s return to the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival for the first time since the pandemic. Our performances also marked the first time autistic individuals had been given the opportunity to perform at this prestigious international festival, continuing our pioneering work to offer artistic opportunities to the autistic community around the world.
In March 2023, we adapted our productions to create a third way of using Pericles to perform with refugees. We have pioneered this new approach with refugees from Ukraine as well as those from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Feedback
“The purity of the heartfelt storytelling of the matinee of Kelly's production of Pericles was just what I needed to break down my repressed grief at the rifts in my own family of origin. I was in tears at the end - true catharsis dancing onstage at the end with the risen Marina was an overwhelming experience I will cherish. The morning circle literally "enchanted" me with your "welcome song" as you and your actors "activated" the love energy field with the beautiful harmonic intervals binding each participant by name I didn't know about the womb heartbeat but I felt the power of the process of incorporation through rhythm (repetition) vibration (frequency and harmonic) and a sense of what a cherishing welcome might be! I believe hearing (and of course vibration as the Indian Sutras say) to be primal and the last thing to go at death.
How I felt at the workshop was that it was heart-centered process of being "sung into" belongingness (not chilly "social inclusion") but bound in, honoured or cherished into a safe nurturing space that reminds us what true belonging and happiness may be - the enrichment and nourishment of communion and belonging to spirit in a mythic womb-like experience outside of time. It added more to my happiness than chilly social concepts of "neuro-diversity" - I was myself enchanted and uplifted and am truly grateful”.
“This is storytelling at its best. On an almost bare stage, locations and shipwrecks are created with materials and music that invoke absolute magic”. Britishtheatre.com★★★★
“Boundless storytelling and a feast for the senses” - West End Evenings ★★★★
“An Ecstasy of joy and dancing” - The Reviews Hub ★★★★
“Thrilling” - The Stage★★★★
TABLE 3 DOUBLE PERICLES
Month | Description | Performances for autistic individuals | Main stage Performances | Unique opportunity for Autistic Audiences | Main stage Audience | Ukrainians watching via zoom from Ukraine | Refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo | Country |
Ma y | International Shakespeare festival Craiova | 1 | 1 | 15 | 200 |
|
| Romania |
Situational Centre for Ukrainian Refugees | 4 |
| 60 | 100 |
|
| Bulgaria | |
October | Situational Centre for Ukrainian Refugees | 8 | 1 | 120 | 40 | 300 |
| Bulgaria |
November | Brunswick Theatre | 10 |
| 80 |
|
|
| Brighton, UK |
Riverside Studios | 4 | 8 | 32 | 343 |
|
| London, UK | |
The Old market Theatre | 1 | 1 | 12 | 60 |
|
| Brighton, UK | |
Brunswick Theatre | 4 |
| 32 |
|
|
| Brighton, UK | |
March | Mercury Theatre | 2 | 2 | 16 | 244 |
|
| Colchester, UK |
Virginia Primary School Tower Hamlets | 9 |
| 72 |
|
|
| London, UK | |
Notre Dame Refugee Centre Leicester Square |
| 2 |
|
|
| 60 | London, UK | |
Total |
| 43 | 15 | 439 | 987 | 300 | 60 |
|
Pericles for Ukraine
In May 2022, responding to the outbreak of war, we travelled to Sofia, Bulgaria to work with Ukrainian refugees and their children. We performed our shows of Pericles for autistic individuals in Russian for all refugee families including those with autism and special needs. The Hunter Heartbeat work can be enjoyed by children and adults who are experiencing a dissociation of mind and body no matter the cause - autism or displacement through war. The project was very gratefully received by the refugee families and we returned in October to continue playing. During our visit in October, 300 Ukrainian scholars, parents and audience members watched us via zoom from across the entire country of Ukraine.
Feedback
“Flute Theatre won the children's hearts. The emotional interaction that the actors managed to establish in the group had a great impact on the children's socialisation and self-expression. The theatre helped the closed, clamped down children come out of their shells, gave them an opportunity to open out, to overcome their complexes, to reveal the potential of feelings and thoughts. Ukrainian children began to work through psychological traumas with which they have been struggling since this terrible war started. Flute’s original therapy was carried out in the form of a play and allowed the children to participate in the exercises which resembled fun adventures, leaving a positive impression on children of different ages”.
“In Ukraine my son was not admitted into the theatre club with the excuse that "the theatre is too difficult for children with Down syndrome"...
But in Sofia, thanks to Darya Lazarenko, we met Kelly Hunter and her Flute Theatre. And Vitaly finally got admitted! And he didn't just act in the theatre! His heart was beating in unison with Shakespeare's Pericles! He projected himself into different characters together with Josh, his guide to the world of the theatre, who worked true wonders. I admired all the actors in Flute Theatre, in communication with whom not only there was no language barrier, they were so professional in helping their partners to open up, that all the barriers existing at the beginning dissipated by the end, leaving only happy faces and happily beating hearts.
I watched and realised that the theatre is not only and not so much about the stage. The theatre is acceptance, it is support, it is self-expression for everyone and real inclusion.
I very much look forward to continuing to get to know each other and to the possibility of a further development of Kelly Hunter's theatre workshop in Sofia”.
TABLE 4 PERICLES FOR REFUGEES Pericles for Refugees
Month | Description | Performances for autistic individuals | Main stage Performances | Unique opportunities for autistic audiences | Main stage audience | Ukrainians watching via zoom from Ukraine | Country |
May
| Situational Centre for Ukrainian Refugees | 4 |
| 60 | 100 |
| Bulgaria |
October | Situational Centre for Ukrainian Refugees | 8 | 1 | 120 | 40 | 300 | Bulgaria |
Total |
| 12 | 1 | 180 | 140 | 300 |
|
Achievements and performances
We successfully delivered the first year of the Celebrating Autism Project at Riverside Studios, funded by John Lyon's Charity, maintaining strong ties with our community of autistic individuals and their families in the West London area..
We continued to deliver our performances with students from St. John’s College Brighton, continuing to build strong and sustainable ties with staff, learners and families.
We created and premiered a brand new adaptation of Pericles, premiering at the Craiova International Shakespeare festival in May 2022. With this production, we created our Double Pericles model for touring. The production has received four star reviews in every venue it has performed.
We were able to adapt and perform our Pericles for autistic individuals in Russian and Romanian, working with autistic people in Romania and Ukrainian refugees in Bulgaria.
Our Pericles for Ukraine project is now embedded in the Situational Centre for Ukraine in Sofia Bulgaria, with plans for us to make return visits whenever possible.
Significant activities of public benefit
Our significant activities during the year can be visibly seen through our specialized performances of Shakespeare for autistic individuals through our continuation of our “Celebrating Autism” project and our performances for autistic individuals through our Double Pericles tour.
We have increased our beneficiaries to include Ukrainian refugees through our Pericles for Ukraine project, based in Sofia Bulgaria which we initiated within ten weeks of the outbreak of the war.
A further significant activity of public benefit is the adaptation of our Pericles production for extended groups of refugees namely those from the Democratic republic of Congo with whom we performed at the Notre Dame Centre in Leicester Square. This was the very first theatre experience for this community and strengthened Flute’s ambition to create high quality performances in non theatrical settings for people with no access to the arts.
Our highly acclaimed new adaptation of Pericles, one of Shakespeare’s least known plays is of significant public benefit in the realm of original artistic endeavor.
Financial review
Reserve Level
It is the policy of the charity that sufficient unrestricted funds are retained to cover day-to-day running costs, as each project continues to be funded separately.
The trustees are aware that the current level of reserves is low but are sufficiently confident that there are adequate funds confirmed and pending for the ensuing year to ensure that the charity will be able to continue running on a day-to-day basis, whilst seeking individual project funding.
Fundraising
Fundraising remains a critical concern for the trustees and Artistic Director Kelly Hunter.
Katrina Duncan, a professional fundraiser with a proven track record has been successful during the last twelve months raising the following substantial grants for Flute’s tour of our Double Pericles:
Arts Council England £29,000
Ashley Family Foundation £9,230
D'Oyly Carte Charity £3,000
She will continue to concentrate on securing core costs for the next two to three years and as well securing large grants for project funding. She will work closely with Artistic Director Kelly Hunter and Chairperson Jane Claire. It is important to note that the three years of core salary costs from John Lyon's Charity will come to an end in this financial year. It is understood as a priority for the board, Kelly Hunter and Katrina Duncan that further core salaries are sourced as soon as possible.
TABLE 5: FINANCE
Restricted Grants over £10,000.00 | ||
Name | Amount | Date |
John Lyons Charity. Core Costs Grant. (2/3) | £30,000.00 | 14th April 2022 |
Foyle Foundation | £25,000.00 | 7th Oct 2022 |
Arts Council, first instalment | £26,100.00 | 1st Dec 2022 |
Goldsmiths University | £9,850.00 | 4th Nov 2022 |
TOTAL Restricted Grants over £10,000.00 | £90,950.00 |
|
Unrestricted Grants under £10,000.00 | ||
Paid in 2022-23 but spent during 2022-23 | ||
John Lyons Charity. Project Grant. (1/3) |
£40,000.00 | 14th April 2022 |
John Lyons Charity. | £7,000.00 | 20th Dec 2022 |
D'Oyly Carte Charity | £3,000.00 | 2nd Aug 2022 |
Ashley Family Foundation | £9,230.00 | 17th 2022 Nov |
|
|
|
TOTAL Unrestricted Grants under £10,000.00 | £59,230.00 |
|
Donations received under £10,000 during 2022-23 | ||
Donors | Amount | Date |
JustGiving | £933.97 | Cumulative |
£277.91 | Cumulative | |
Amazon | £5 | 9th May 2022 |
St johns School | £6,000.00 | 4th April 2022 |
St johns School | £5,000.00 | 19th April 2022 |
St johns School | £5,000.00 | 30th Aug 2022 |
St johns School | £6,000.00 | 30th Aug 2022 |
St johns School |
£2,000.00 |
13th March 2023 |
St johns School | £1,120.00 | 6th May 2022 |
St John’s School | £3,880.00 | 6th May 2022 |
Caf Bank | £1,000.00 | 22nd Aug 2022 |
N Dumezwemi | £5,000.00 | 27th July 2022 |
Indiegogo | £2,502.55 | 21st Sep 2022 |
Burlington House | £500.00 | 8th Feb 2023 |
UCL - Antonia Hamilton | £1,000.00 | 27th March 2023 |
Janny Sapna | £200.00 | 29th Sep 2022 |
Johnny Gill | £60.00 | Cumulative |
M Bamber | £100.00 | 16th Aug 2022 |
Playing with Shakespeare donation | £648.65 | 12th May 2022 |
Cash Donation | £100.00 | 25th Jul 2022 |
Sherling Clive Charitable Trust | £4,000.00 | 2nd Feb 2023 |
TOTAL Donations under £10,000.00 | £45,328.08 |
|
Other revenue under £10,000 during 2022-23 | ||
Miscellaneous | Amount | Date |
Riverside Studios – Box Office | £3,034.06 | Cumulative |
Old Market Brighton | £295.75 | Cumulative |
Teatrul National Craiova | £14,243.11 | Cumulative |
TOTAL Other Revenue under £10,000.00 | 17,572.92 |
|
We will endeavor to tour both productions of Pericles in one programme, named the Double Pericles.
We will endeavor to create a new mainstage production of The Tempest to premiere at the International Festival in April 2023
We will deliver the second year of our Celebrating Autism project with workshops and performances at Riverside Studios for the autistic community and those within the wider John Lyons beneficial area.
We will continue to deliver workshops and performances with the learners at St. John’s College Brighton.
We will continue to create a full-length documentary film showing the story of Flute's work whilst tracing the history of the Hunter Heartbeat games over the last twenty years.
We will continue to develop our partnership with Escuela Especial Montserrat Montero, Spain.
Ninad Samaddar will continue to develop Flute India, with the hope of bringing some of the UK company to Kolkata in autumn 2023.
We will continue to help Ukrainian refugee families in Sofia with our Pericles for Ukraine project.
We will renew our collaboration with The Orange Tree Theatre and endeavor to create a new production with them for autistic individuals in January 2024.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee incorporated on 10 November 2014 and registered as a charity on 23 September 2015. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which sets out the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Trustees can be nominated by any member of the Board of Trustees to replace a trustee stepping down.
Appointment of newly nominated Trustees requires unanimous approval of all Trustees.
The new trustee is provided with details of trustees’ roles and responsibilities. Training as such is not provided as no one has felt it to be necessary. At meetings, there is always room for questions and explanations.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
The company's current policy concerning the payment of trade creditors is to follow the CBI's Prompt Payers Code (copies are available from the CBI, Centre Point, 103 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1DU).
The company's current policy concerning the payment of trade creditors is to:
settle the terms of payment with suppliers when agreeing the terms of each transaction;
ensure that suppliers are made aware of the terms of payment by inclusion of the relevant terms in contracts; and
pay in accordance with the company's contractual and other legal obligations.
The Trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report on the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023, which are set out on pages 13 to 22.
The charity’s trustees, who are also the directors of Flute Theatre for the purposes of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:
examine the financial statements under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the financial statements present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the next statement.
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; and
to prepare financial statements which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities;
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
Donations and grants
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Flute Theatre is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 250 Aztec West, Almondsbury, Bristol, BS32 4TR.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the charity's objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Costs are accounted for when they are incurred, with irrecoverable VAT being charged as a cost against the relevant activity.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Donations and grants
Grants income
Theatrical Income - Productions that benefit the general public
Theatrical Income - Productions that benefit those on the autism spectrum
Production expenses
General support
Governance
Production expenses
General support
Governance
Actors and producers fees
Advertising
Insurance
Sundries
Accountancy
Props and costumes
Freelance Staff Costs
Travel and subsistence
Bank fees
Production and Support costs
Postage and stationery
IT expenses
Subscriptions
Professional Fees
None of the other trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.
There were no employees working for Flute Theatre in the current year.
Kelly Hunter MBE was paid fees of £40,452 (2022: £37,205 ) in her capacity as Artistic Director, workshop leader and for administration of the charity.
The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxationof Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.
Unrestricted
Unrestricted