for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Balance sheet | |
Additional notes | |
Balance sheet notes | |
Community Interest Report |
As at
Notes | 13 months to 31 December 2023 | ||
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Fixed assets | |||
Tangible assets: | 3 |
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Total current assets: |
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Creditors: amounts falling due within one year: | 4 |
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Total assets less current liabilities: |
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Provision for liabilities: |
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Total net assets (liabilities): |
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Members' funds | |||
Profit and loss account: |
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Total members' funds: |
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The notes form part of these financial statements
The directors have chosen not to file a copy of the company's profit and loss account.
This report was approved by the board of directors on
and signed on behalf of the board by:
Name:
Status: Director
The notes form part of these financial statements
for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
Basis of measurement and preparation
for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
13 months to 31 December 2023 | ||
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Average number of employees during the period |
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for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
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At 31 December 2023 |
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At 31 December 2023 |
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for the Period Ended 31 December 2023
13 months to 31 December 2023 | ||
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Other creditors |
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Beam Story Lab (formally Glow Create) is a socially engaged community interest company providing free filmmaking, photography, visual arts, and creative writing opportunities to marginalised groups who may not otherwise have access to them. We also create work for other charities and organisations whose missions align with ours, raising awareness and educating on issues and social interest stories. Our income is generated through both grants and paid commissions. In 2023 our work was focussed in the West End of Newcastle, with two key projects. One, ‘Beauty Between Cracks’, was funded by Arts Council England and Newcastle City Council, the other ‘A Day in Primary Care’ was a paid commission for Newcastle GP Service. Beauty Between Cracks was a multidisciplinary project based in newcastle College ESOL department. We worked with 15 refugees and asylum seekers, all of whom were relatively new to the city and seeking to make it their home. We used photography and cyanotype to find beauty in urban environments, explore our relationship to nature, and cultivate a sense of belonging and connection to place. We worked for 8 months to create a body of work that culminated in an exhibition at Riverside Dene, and is housed permanently online. Participants reported a huge uplift in wellbeing and skill development; for some it was a journey of discovery, unearthing hidden talents and interests, while for others, it was an opportunity to reignite passions and skills they had been forced to put on hold due to incredibly difficult circumstances both leading to and/or as a result of, their relocation to the UK. The group became incredibly close knit, with individuals forming strong friendships beyond the sessions themselves. For people very new to the region, this was a particularly special, crucial outcome of the project. In evaluation interviews, participants also reported improved mood and emotional wellbeing, citing the connection to one another, increased gratitude for nature, and the support and encouragement as all being important factors. Newcastle College staff reported a department wide positivity, with both staff and students voicing passion for the project and an enthusiastic appetite for the work to continue. Members of the public commented positively on the exhibition, praising the work and the project itself for improving the previously unloved space. We are currently seeking funding from National Lottery and Community Foundation to try and fulfil the interest and need for this work to continue. From March - November 2023 we worked in partnership with Newcastle GP Service and a number of GP practices to create a series of films and photography portraits to raise awareness about the challenges in primary care. We worked in a collaborative way, encouraging practice staff to shape the narrative of their own videos, and together, scripted the voiceover to ensure it was representative of their experience and presented in their own voices. Participants and commissioners fed back that the unobtrusive, collaborative process had been extremely fulfilling for those involved, and that the films had received high praise in their networks and beyond. The project garnered local press attention and was a well received, successful campaign.
We undertook an extensive consultation process following our Beauty Between Cracks project to ensure future project design/grant applications were reflective of the desired direction of participants at Newcastle College. Based on their input, we have submitted applications for a longer term, weekly art group based in the college itself, with a view to expanding into one of the disused units in Riverside Dene. This will be an ongoing consultation and evolve organically through conversations and collaboration at every stage. We have been developing projects and/or submitted proposals with the following groups/ institutions; Teesside University, Durham University Institute for Medical Humanities, The Open University, Gateshead Carers, Northumbria University, NIHR ARC, Anchor, Northbourne Care Home and Vane art gallery. These projects have been developed through extensive consultation between partners/stakeholders, as well as steering groups. As we are a young organisation we sought to hold regular consultations with contracted freelancers and volunteers to ensure our HR policies were fit for purpose. Throughout their involvement with us, we held numerous one-to-one meetings to question what was or wasn’t working, and whether they were satisfied with things like rates of pay, professional support, available resources, and artistic fulfilment. These conversations were incredibly beneficial and helped us unpick some of our own assumptions; for example, we had wondered if artist facilitators may want to be supported to undertake their own arts practice as part of community projects, but discovered this was not always the case. As Directors we have navigated the hurdle of another, much larger local arts company registering under the same name. This necessitated a period of reflection and consultation with stakeholders to redefine our brand and rethink our marketing strategy. It resulted in a complete name change from Glow Create to Beam Story Lab, and resources being diverted from our imminent marketing push and into a rebrand instead. We hope to be back on course with our original marketing plan and expansion by January 2025.
No remuneration was received
No transfer of assets other than for full consideration
This report was approved by the board of directors on
27 November 2024
And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name: Danielle Giddins
Status: Director