The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
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 constitution, 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)" (effective 1 January 2019).
The main objective of the Charity is to promote, maintain, improve and advance the education of the public in the arts, including increasing the availability of the arts to people.
Beavers Arts Ltd (B.ARTS) objects are to work creatively for change with individuals and communities by employing artists and creative professionals in work that is innovative, intelligent and meaningful and that leads to a process of greater cultural democracy.
B.ARTS delivers against these objects through a blended programme of projects and events. Some of these are delivered at No72, B.ARTS base in Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, while others are presented in local community/ neighbourhood settings in North Staffordshire and occasionally internationally.
The company continued to deliver well against its charitable objects of promoting and increasing the availability of the arts during the year 2024/25 despite continuing challenges in the wider cultural and public sectors including the increase in cost of living.
B.ARTS activities reached beneficiaries face to face and online, and had a positive impact on communities within Stoke on Trent, Newcastle under Lyme and North Staffordshire.
In total the company worked with 6,405 participants in co-created activities of whom 1,399 attendees were at activity specifically for children and young people (aged 0-19). B.ARTS live events attracted 17,799 as audiences with an additional incidental audience of 18,250 arising from viewings of Blank space commissions by passers by, of public art works commissioned and installed by B.ARTS and digital activity. B.ARTS work was supported by 91 volunteers and 15 internships who gained on the job training/skills in hospitality, event management, administration and creative facilitation.
B.ARTS employed 9 permanent staff, 2 full time & 7 part-time and 95 contracted artists working with beneficiaries in the delivery of B.ARTS co-created programme.
Within 2024-25 B.ARTS continued to work across the following themes, which together form the company’s core activities. Highlights from each theme are mentioned:
Neighbourhood
B.ARTS led
The much-loved regular arts/ heritage and community festival, Etruria Canals Festival, attracted audiences of over 6,000 a day in June 2024
Co-created creative activities with 1,399 children and young people, running after school creative workshops and projects in Fegg Hayes, Abbey Hulton and Ford Green
Lantern processions: We delivered 30 lantern making workshops with 631 people participating, with 1,300 people taking to the streets across community-based lantern parades in Kidsgrove, Fegg Hayes, Cheadle and Stoke-Upon-Trent.
Animate 72
Ran regular Climate Cafés, an opportunity for local residents to take part in free family focused creative -activities that provide micro solutions to the environmental crisis
Men Who Make Things began, a new regular weekly creative mental health and well-being session for men, led by our B.ARTS studio artists and engaging 33 men to date undertaking a range of creative making including carpentry, metal work, prop-making alongside a space for conversation and connection, funded by the Baring Foundation.
Scratch Night in November 2024 with 3 micro-commissions awarded to artists from the city, and saw other emerging performers perform alongside the ArtsHill performers with a mixture of sketches, poetry, spoken word and stand-up comedy.
Worked with ArtsHill Performers and the wider creative community to run two Scratch Night events, and with Wrtie2Speak to run 6 spoken word workshops and events
B.ARTS Studio – our onsite maker space, ran masterclasses and workshops in large scale sculptural lantern making and undertook commissions for external organisations Walk the Plank and Wild Rumpus.
Co-created site specific productions ‘Who is Molly Leigh’ R&D of a new community opera exploring legend of accused Burslem witch Molly, to explore stories of difference and social exclusion, with a diverse community company of 62
Co-created a promenade multi-sensory theatre show, as an alternative winter performance for families. The Lost Note was designed and created by neurodivergent adults and young people and provided accessible performances for children and young people with Special Educational Needs, early years and subsidised places for low-income families across 22 performances with a total audience of 313
Talent Development
Worked with 4 new cohorts of New Producers supporting them to develop creative producing skills through planning and running their own micro-events.
3 days of lantern making masterclasses for artists and makers, who learnt lantern making skills whilst making a large-scale boar lantern, which made its debut at Stoke Lanterns in March 2025.
Placemaking
Began pilot of The Saturday Series, events testing approaches to animating and engagement of the public in Stoke Town Square, funded by the High Street Accelerator fund, e.g. a mini street festival in February 2025 bringing a little bit of Covent Garden atmosphere to Stoke
Began work on ‘Pockets of Paradise’, a 12-month project funded by the Green Space Fund. Festival Stoke & B.ARTS aim to bring 4 neglected and underused spaces back into use as community gardens, increasing biodiversity, and use multi -sensory (tactile, colourful, fragrant) planting, celebrating the heritage of the town with planting designs drawing inspiration from Minton tile designs and Copeland Spode (both based in Stoke Town)
International Work
The company continued to work with partners beyond the UK, in particular an online learning exchange with a mexican based collective @artesustentable_ac with the aim of a physical exchange between the two companies in 25/26
Bread in Common
Bread in Common offered a “pay as you feel" café on Fridays and lunches from waste food for Climate Café Saturdays.
B.ARTS responded to the needs of local community; consolidating the level of Fareshare food donations received, to enable the company to offer free recovered food on a referral free basis.
Strategic
B.ARTS continued to support the work of Stoke Creates, who aim to develop a strategic landing platform for regional, national and international resources, and B.ARTS are part of a pilot programme led by Stoke Creates to test ideas for creating Cultural Action Zones across the city. B.ARTS work focusses on the Stoke Town
B.ARTS has also continued to support the consortium that leads Outside, a new programme of engaged arts activities for residents of the Staffordshire Moorlands, with B.ARTS Senior Creative Producer sitting on the board.
National organisation Outdoor Arts held a sector wide networking event at No.72 in advance of their national conference in Stoke, where B.ARTS Senior Creative Producer and young people from Fegg Hayes presented on B.ARTS youth engagement work
B.ARTS has continued to develop partnership relations with local universities and education providers, continuing to: hold student placements for Keele University Medical Students and is partner in a collaborative theatre MA course delivered by Staffordshire University, involving mentoring and placements.
Organisational Development
Significant funding successes within this year included significant local authority project funding via The Green Space Fund and The High Street Accelerator Funding supporting Pockets of Paradise and Saturday Series respectively. Alongside this was an award from the DCMS VCSE Energy Efficiency fund which enabled energy efficiency measures of wall insulation, LED lighting and motion sensors and solar panels to be fitted across the building.
A Stoke City Council grant also enabled work with external company, Salt & Sister Studio to begin a refresh of B.ARTS branding.
The Charity’s financial position is laid out in the balance sheet and financial statements. The total funds of the charity at 31 March 2024 are £158,467 (2024: £139,700)
Reserves of £158,467 comprise restricted funds of £8,045 in relation to capital projects and unrestricted funds of £150,422
The increase in reserves is largely driven by further grants received in the year because of opportunities available targeted at the specific geographic areas we work within. This is funding is designated for the delivery of specific projects that cross financial years and as such are being carried forward into 2025/26.
The Trustees have power to invest and expend the funds of the Charity in such a manner, as they shall consider most beneficial for the achievement of the objects in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Charity.
The Board considers that it is desirable to hold a minimum of £85,000 of reserves in line with the company’s reserve policy, in order to smooth the effect of any adverse fluctuations in income. The charity also holds funds designated for capital expenditure of £20,000 and redundancy costs of £10,000 at 31 March 2025. This has resulted in available reserves of £35,422 as at 31 March 2025
The policy is reviewed annually by the Board, and reserve levels quarterly by the treasurer.
The Company operates a risk adverse policy in all areas of operation. Overall responsibility for identifying and managing risk rests with the Board. All major risks to which the charity is exposed have been reviewed and systems have been established to manage those risks.
Across 2025/26 B. ARTS will continue to develop our socially engaged arts programme.
Including building on our work to increase community connection and re-animate under used spaces through our ongoing Climate Connection Café, Pockets of Paradise and High Street Happenings and developing our creative mental health project Men Who Make Things and our youth advocacy arts work, New Futures Lab.
As 2025 is Stoke-On-Trent’s Centenary year we look forward to supporting a creative programme that amplifies and celebrates the diverse creative communities of Stoke, including creating a large scale ‘Spirit of Stoke’ puppet for the people’s parade, co-producing a new theatre show celebrating the city’s canal heritage, and supporting an exhibition celebrating stories of human migration in Stoke.
In 2025 we will deliver the full version of the multi-partner community opera, ‘Who is Molly Leigh?’ providing creative opportunities for performance, puppetry, set creation for a diverse range of community participants and new audiences.
Access and inclusion and environmental responsibility will continue to be a core guiding principle for our work in 25/26 working with our community advisory groups to plan and implement actions across our programmes.
The Charity is a company limited by guarantee, not having a share capital under the Companies Acts 2006 (registration number 02143658) and is registered with the Charity Commissioners as a charity (registration number 1068736) under the Charities Act 2011
The Trustee, 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:
As a matter of policy the Trust would normally expect to advertise for new trustees in both the local and national press to ensure that the most suitable candidates are selected for interview by the Board. In some cases the Board may become aware of someone with particular qualifications and may invite such a person to apply for Trusteeship.
All new Trustees receive the Charity Commission’s booklet giving guidance on being a charity trustee as well as following a formal induction programme. In appropriate cases, by agreement with the Trustees and the applicant, a trustee designate may attend up to three trustee meetings before his/her appointment is confirmed.
None of the Trustee has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the Trustee are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
The Trustee report was approved by the Board of Trustee.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Beavers Arts Limited (the Charity) for the year ended 31 March 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the Charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the Charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
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 that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements 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 financial statements 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 financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Beavers Arts Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The Glades Festival Way, Festival Park, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom, ST1 5SQ.
Beavers Arts Limited is a company, limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information above. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are described in the Trustee’s Report.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "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). 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 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 Trustee have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Trustee 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 Trustee in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
For donations to be recognised the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.
Donated facilities and donated professional services are recognised in income at their fair value when their economic benefit is probable, it can be measured reliably and the charity has control over the item. Fair value is determined on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity. For example the amount the charity would be willing to pay in the open market for such facilities and services. A corresponding amount is recognised in expenditure.
No amount is included in the financial statements for volunteer time in line with the SORP (FRS 102). Further detail is given in the Trustees’ Annual Report.
Where practicable, gifts in kind donated for distribution to the beneficiaries of the charity are included in stock and donations in the financial statements upon receipt. If it is impracticable to assess the fair value at receipt or if the costs to undertake such a valuation outweigh any benefits, then the fair value is recognised as a component of donations when it is distributed and an equivalent amount recognised as charitable expenditure. Gifts in kind donated for resale are included at fair value, being the expected proceeds from sale less the expected costs of sale.
Where estimating the fair value is practicable upon receipt it is recognised in stock and ‘Income from other trading activities’. Upon sale, the value of the stock is charged against ‘Income from other trading activities’ and the proceeds are recognised as ‘Income from other trading activities’. Where it is impracticable to fair value the items due to the volume of low value items they are not recognised in the financial statements until they are sold. This income is recognised within ‘Income from other trading activities’. Fixed asset gifts in kind are recognised when receivable and are included at fair value. They are not deferred over the life of the asset.
Income from charitable activities represents the provision of activities in furtherance of the charity’s objects.
Investment income is earned through holding assets for investment purposes. It is included when the amount can be measured reliably. Interest income is recognised using the effective interest method.
Other income represents those items not falling into the above categories.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
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.
The Charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the Charity's balance sheet when the Charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
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, 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.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the Charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the Charity’s accounting policies, the Trustee 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.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
The Charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Charity in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).