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UINCAPTrusteesAnnualReportforyearended29thFebruary2025
Reference and Administrative Details
UINCAP International Union of Capoeira(UINCAP) Charity registration number: 1137913
Company limitedby guarantee: 05368398 Registered/office address:
2nd Floor, 136 Streatham High Road, London, SW16 1BW Trustees: Sarah Moltoni, MarceloDos Santos, MarshaLowe
Structure,GovernanceandManagement
UINCAP is acharitable company limited by guarantee. Itsgoverning document is the Memorandum and Articles of Association as adopted by theBoard of Trustees in August 2004. UINCAP’sactivities are managed by the Board of Trustees who are also the Directors ofthe company.
New trustees withrelevant skills that can benefit the charity are recruited through personalcontact and by recommendation from amongst membership and those who work with andsupport the charity’s activities. Duringthe year-ended February 2025, trustee Janet Warburton sadly passed away. Wewill look to recruit an additional trustee during the next financial year.
ObjectivesandActivities
UINCAP is a registered charityworking throughout Lambethand surrounding boroughssince 2004. We aim to improve the physical and emotional health andwell being of children, young people and adults.
This is achieved through the provision ofcapoeira (a Brazilian martial art,incorporating self-defence, dance, acrobatics, philosophy, instrumental playing and singing), a range of other martialarts, dance, music, visual arts and therapies and structured play.
UINCAP runs the Streatham Capoeira Centre and the Kennington Park Centre.
Since 2017 wehave been part of Bright Futures, a consortium of other local providers thatwas established to provide joined up working across the borough. In 2021 we have developed this consortium model and formed the StreathamYouth Partnership with partners including Streatham Youth and Community Trust,Inspirational Youth, Streatham Space, South CentralYouth and St Michaels Fellowship. Inaddition to our ongoing work, being part of this consortium has meant we havealso delivered joint events such as open days, workshops and performancesalongside the other providers.
In October2022, we formed the Creative Consortium in partnership with Oxygen Arts, TheBoury Academy, Kinetika Bloco and the Kennington Park Community Trust. With a focus on creative skillswork, this consortium works across the north of the borough. We received a one-year seed-fund from Lambeth Youth and Play toimplement new creative and sporting initiatives and to develop partnershipworking.
Streatham CapoeiraCentre Capoeira:
We run 12 weeklyclasses for childrenfrom 3 years and above through to adult, and for beginners through toadvanced level.
During schoolholidays we run the CapoeiraHoliday Courses, from 10am– 3pm Monday-Friday for children from 6-16 years. We also provide volunteering/training opportunities for youngpeople from 14-18 years.
Provision is offered as 12-week coursesduring term-time, intensiveholiday provision during school holidays and at special events such asgradings, championships, performances and workshops.
Additional Activities:
The centreoffers ballet, lindi-hop/jazz dance, yoga, pilates, drum kit and Afro-Brazilian drummingclasses for childrenand adults run by our staff and external providers.
Kennington Park CentreAdventure Playground:
Open every Monday,Tuesday and Wednesdayduring term-time from 3:30 – 6:30pm and Monday-Friday 10am – 4pmduring the school holidays from 6- 16 year-olds fromLambeth and surrounding boroughs.
This freeopen-access service provides structured play, an adventure playground with climbing structures and zip-wire, sportsand arts activities, games and cooking, led by ahighly qualified team of playworkers.
Stay & Play:
Open throughout the year from Monday - Thursday from 10am – 1pm.
This free serviceis open to children from 0 – 5 years with a parent or carer. It providesopen space for young childrento play, make friends and learn in asupportive environment, and for parents/carers to meet others and seek adviceand support from experienced workers.
Additional Activities:
3 weeklycapoeira, classes are offered during term-time (as at Streatham Capoeira Centre)for families (children from 5 yearsplus with a parent/carer),for 10 – 17 years-olds at the APG and for adults.
We have expandedthe range of services to promote improved well-being, including acupuncture,yoga, pilates and fitness, as well as establishing a screen-printing workshopoffering both trainingand guided use of equipment.
These activities are run by a combination of our staff and externalproviders.
Both centres are widely used by community groups for meetings,classes and family/communitygatherings, when not in use for regular provision.
UINCAP’sTrustees have considered the Charity Commision’s guidance on public benefitand are satisfied that the charity has charitable purposeand delivers wide ranging and tangible public benefit.
Provision is accessible to users with and withoutadditional needs and from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Provision is low cost, with
concessionary ratesfor low-income familiesand a bursary to cover up to thefull cost of provision for those unable to make any financial contribution.
The KPC AdventurePlayground and Stay & Play are free of charge.
Capoeiraimproves health on a physical and emotional level, improving fitness, strength,flexibility, coordination and reflex as well as creativity and improvisation, self-confidence,individuality, autonomy and team skills.
Our provisionseeks to make stronger and healthier communities - physically andemotionally. We facilitate theparticipation of all members of a child’s family and the wider community, byrunning classes for all ages, subsidising provision up to the full cost whereneeded, putting on performances, open days, workshops and celebratory events.
Throughbringing people of all ages together, we give children and young peopleopportunities to be inspired and challenged by positive role models from a range of cultural, social and economicbackgrounds and for childrenthemselves to be positive role models for younger childrenand their peers.
Thecost-of-living crisis has continues to have significant impact on both ourorganisation and the people we support. We have seen increased demand forfree and concessionary provision, with many families struggling to afford topay for services.
Many youngpeople we work with are struggling with increased socialanxiety and school attendance. Wehave also noticed higher levels of anxiety and stress amongst both young peopleand adults and higher levels of financial concern amongst parents.
AchievementsandPerformance
Outreach work in schoolshas continued to rebuild duringthis financial year and we have seen an uptake inattendance across most programmes.
In June, 93students took part in the annual Batizado grading ceremony. Taking part ingrading ceremonies, and being awarded certificates and belts both rewardsstudents and encourages further development.The benefits of practising capoeira come over time, therefore it is important that practitionersare encouraged to keep up withtraining (whether they carry onwith capoeira or use it as a stepping stone to dance or other martialarts).
With funding from Lambeth’s HolidayActivity Fund, we ran holidayprovision during the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in bothStreatham and Kennington, with additional half-term projects also running inKennington.
In Streatham,we were open for 5 weeks in April, July and August. We ran capoeira, hula, dance, music and visual arts sessions and provided a free hot lunch for all the children. Over the 5 weeks, we worked with 152children, with an average of 35 places offered each day.
At theKennington Park Centre, we were open for 10 weeks, with children attending daily and a total of 214 unique participants. We ran sports and arts
activities,cooking sessions and free play on the zip wire and outside adventure playground structures. This summer we continued our partnership with the Kennington Park Community Centre,with the objectiveof mixing and connecting families from oppositesides of the park (from Brandon and Kennington Park estates), to promotecommunity cohesion and reduce fear and anxiety young people have of going totheir local Kennington Park.
In August we ranour residential programme, taking 23 12-16 year olds on a 4-day campingtrip. Young people took part in a range of activities, including capoeira, dance, music,football, paddle-boarding, swimming and hiking.
Each day we prepared and cooked meals together as a group. The benefitsof this programme were widely felt, especially post-pandemic and we haveseen increased uptake in ongoing provision.
The HAF fundingenabled us to reach new users and we have built up a large database of young people andfamilies who don’t necessarily access weekly provision but instead regularlyattend and rely on our provision during the school holidays.
We ran ourKennington Community Days in July and December, with a range of stalls,activities, food and games for local families.These are very popularevents, bring together people from all generations across our local communities.
Our YoungCapoeira Leaders programme is going from strength to strength, with 15 youngpeople regularly taking part in performances, leading workshops, volunteeringon holiday and regular provision and learning to teach. In July, 12 young peoplefrom our Young Capoeira Leaderprogramme lead workshops and performances at the Lambeth Country Show. We also delivered a range of performancesand workshops at local schools, and our young performers were invited to hostan interactive performance at We Out Here festival in Dorset in August 2024.
Ongoing Projects:
Capoeira YouthEducation Project
Capoeira YoungLeader Programme
Kennington Park Centre Adventure Playground
Kennington Park Centre Stay & Play
Holiday schemes
Capoeira Youth Education Project
16 weekly classes at the Streatham Capoeira School
3 weeklyclasses at the Kennington Park Centre includingFamily Capoeira sessions
12 weekly outreachclasses in schools/community centres
We continueto work in partnership with schools, collegesand community- basedorganisations to enable young people to access provision, including referralsand access to subsidised and free places where required.
In the yearended February 2025, over 245 children and young people accessed regularongoing provision as part of the CapoeiraYouth Education Project.
Throughout the project, childrenare taught the basic movements of capoeira, andlearn to create sequences of movements with which to play capoeira.
Participantslearn to play a range of percussion instruments and the primary instrument the‘berimbau’. Participants also learn arange of songs that tell of the historyof capoeira, from slavery times until the modern day and about famous individuals that madesignificant contribution to the survival and
development of capoeira. History is an important elementof the programme, and students learn about the origins of capoeira andhow it has developed up to the present day.
We currently have 5 on-goingoutreach sessions in local schools.
The principle aim of the Capoeira YouthProject is to promote physicalfitness and healthy lifestyles amongst children and young people throughthe facilitation of regular capoeira provision.
The outcomesof the Capoeira Youth Project:
Practising capoeira raisesgeneral fitness levels,improves strength,coordination, spatial awareness and increases flexibility.
Through practising capoeira, children developconfidence and team skills. (Teachersof children practising capoeira have noted increased participation in class,improvements in music classes, through improved posture and breathing, and greater generalself-confidence.)
As childhood obesity is increasing,with children and young people increasinglyless engaged in sport, this project seeks to find new ways of engaging children and youngpeople with physical activity.
Capoeira combines dance, martialarts and music, and we have found that its cross-curricular naturehelps to engage those who would not normally be drawn to practise martial arts,or dance or music.
Through one element that appeals to practitioners, they are introduced to elements they may nototherwise seek to take part in.
Through raising the awareness of capoeira and thebenefits of practising, we hope to increase the number of people practising thesport and encourage more schoolsand community groupsto establish after-schoolprogrammes.
Capoeira Young Leader Programme
Young peoplewho attend our provision regularly are invited to participate in regular performances, workshops, celebratory eventsand to plan and review current and new provision,including helping with grant applications and project evaluations.
We support young people who have been training with us for several years totake part in grading ceremonies, eventually working towards achieving theirJunior Instructor belt. This year 4young people have completed their apprenticeship of capoeira teacher training.
Kennington Park Centre AdevnturePlayground
The KPC Adventure Playground has had anothersuccessful year, with over200 children accessing provision during the holidays and weekly sessions.
The adventure playground is free of charge,and we also provided trips andworkshops during the summer holidays.
Kennington Park Centre Stay & Play
Over 300 childrenand parents/carers accessedthe Stay & Play this year. We have added weekly music/singingsessions once per week which are very popular and the service is now offered 4days per week.
Holiday Schemes
UINCAP’sholiday courses provide an excellent opportunity for children to experiencecapoeira and related dance and music for the first time, in a supportiveenvironment. As the project runs foraround 5 x 6-hour days, participants are given the time to learn a great dealabout the subject, and we have found progress to be of a very high standard – proof of which can be found in the end of course performance.
The holidayprojects also give those childrenwith experience the opportunityto develop their skills further and to take part in specialised ‘masterclass-style’ sessions, such as instrumental playing, vocal work, acrobatics and so on.
We have a teamof highly experienced tutors and pastoral staff, who have experience ofdelivering holiday schemes and regular on-going provision in and out of school,as well as experience of working with children and youngpeople with additional needs.
As a result of taking part in thesecourses (especially those who accessedfree places) we have seen an increased uptake of on-going provision –either at the capoeira school or at after-school capoeira clubs in localschools.
ReservesPolicy
UINCAP’s reservespolicy allows for £25,000 to be set aside, in order to meetany unexpected drop in income. Reservescover at least 1 month running costs and can be spent on core running costs inthe event that any regular funding is cut or to meet any unexpected emergencycosts, such as urgent repairs. Trusteesconsider it sufficient to hold only 1 months’ worth of costs in reserve as weare able to flex expenditure in accordance with any drop in income.
Current Situation
Funding from Lambeth EIPS for work in Streatham wards was extendedto March 2026 and we are about to start the process of applying tosecure future 3-year funding over the next few months.
The LambethHoliday Activity Fund has been confirmed by the Mayor'sFund for London for the next 3 years.We are expecting to receive funding to deliver over the Christmas period and anticipate this funding being awardedfor subsequent holiday periods throughout the academic year.
We were awarded a grantfrom the Go London Foundation for a 1-year core and project grant of £40,000.We have so far receivedjust the first quarterpayment, with £30,416 remaining this year.
In order todiversify income streams, we have applied for 2 capital grants. The AsdaFoundation was awarded in September 2025, with payment expected imminently. The outcome of the Better Youth Spaces grant will bebetween November and December.
We have applied for 2 additional core funding grants,with decisions expected in the new year.
We have workedin our local communities since 2004, buildingup long-lasting relationships with users, familiesand the wider community. Collectively, with staff, volunteer and user support we were able to adapt andcontinue our provision during and post-pandemic, and we have maintained astrong connection with our users and community, including continuing withonline provision even after we were able to reopen face-to-face services.
We have continued to prioritise small hirers, so that revenuefrom venue hire is less at risk of unexpected dropsand we have seen an increase in one-off
bookings for children’s partiesand community events.
We have put morefocus on securing smaller hires so that revenue from venue hire is less at risk of unexpected drops, such as children’s partieson the weekends.
The trusteesare therefore satisfiedthat the charityremains a going concern.
StatementofResponsibilitiesoftheTrustees
Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view ofthe state of affairs of the charitable company and the incoming resources andapplication of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of thecharitable company for the year. In preparing those financial statements thetrustees are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Observe the methodsand principles in the applicable Charities SORP;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable accounting standards andstatements of recommended practice havebeen followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financialstatements; and
Prepare the financialstatements on the going concernbasis unless it isinappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keepingproper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any timethe financial position of the charity and whichenable them to ensure that the financialstatements comply with theCompanies Act 2006.
The trustees arealso responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence fortaking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and otherirregularities. The trustees confirm that to the best of their knowledge there is no information relevantto the audit of which the auditorsare unaware.
The trusteesalso confirm that they have taken all necessary steps to ensure that they themselves are aware of all relevantaudit information and that this information has been communicated tothe auditors.
Members of the charityguarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £5 to the assets of the charity in theevent of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 28/2/2025 was 3.
The trustees are members of the charitybut this entitlesthem only to votingrights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.
Approved by the trustees on 30th October2025 and signed on their behalf by
Sarah Moltoni
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