The trustees present their 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 memorandum and 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) (Effective 1 January 2015).
As stated in the Memorandum of Association (2000) Catherine Wheels Theatre Company’s objectives are:
‘The education of the public in the arts, including the arts of the drama, ballet, music, singing, literature, puppetry, sculpture and painting’
In furtherance of the stated objects, the company shall:
‘Carry on in Scotland and elsewhere all or any of the business of a children’s theatre company’
‘Present, promote, manage and produce such plays and all other arts forms as conducive to the promotion, maintenance and advancement of education or the encouragement of the arts’
Intended impact
Catherine Wheels Theatre Company’s intended impact is to produce theatre that is a valued part of the lives, development and education of all children and young people in Scotland. Catherine Wheels creates theatre that engages, inspires and stimulates its audience. By presenting new worlds, ideas and experiences the company aims to support the development of young people both intellectually and emotionally.
Working from an office at The Brunton in Musselburgh, which is generously provided in kind by East Lothian Council, Catherine Wheels tours high quality theatre to theatres, schools and community venues throughout Scotland. The company produces a variety of productions, targeted at specific age ranges and tours nationally and internationally.
Aims
The company knows that to remain relevant, world-class producers of theatre for young audiences it is essential to learn, evolve and collaborate. While committed to maintaining its current programme of national & international touring Catherine Wheels is an ambitious organisation determined to seek new artistic challenges, forge new creative partnerships and strive to ensure as many children as possible are able to access high-quality theatre. The company recognises the challenges of the COVID pandemic, the need for greater diversity in our work and the need to make positive steps with regards to our carbon output.
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Funding Update
Much of 2024/25 was consumed with our bid for Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland. Like every other funded organisation in Scotland, this did have an impact on the amount of work we were able to produce through the year, but we were happy to meet our funding requirements in terms of output and also work internationally.
We were delighted to receive the news on 30th January that the company had been successful in its Multi-Year Funding application to Creative Scotland.
Our bid was for 309,000 a year, and we were awarded £294,416 a year for three years. This is a 37.74% rise on our previous funding level. We are in the fortunate position of moving ahead with the programme outlined in our business plan. However, as we are collaborating with several organisations that received different levels of awards, we will now discuss whether some of our plans can go ahead as proposed.
The award creates a stable financial base to deliver on our three-year plan.
Company Move
At the end of September 2024 Catherine Wheels completed it’s move from the Rehearsal & Storage Studio at Inveresk Industrial Estate. This move allowed for an audit of all our sets, props, costumes and equipment with around 75% being recycled through a variety of sources, including East Lothian community groups. The company now has a new storage space in East Linton with an overall ongoing saving of around £20,000 a year on our previous costs. In terms of core staff, the team work from home with regular in-person and online meetings.
Artist & Sector Development
Meeting our aims: leading force central to a robust sector
Catherine Wheels Theatre Company devotes much of its year as a revenue funded company providing help and support to a diverse range of artists and organisations and continues to represent the Scottish sector home and abroad.
This year we continued to support Bridie Gane to take The Last Forecast to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and continued development with Vee Smith and Sadiq Ali to develop a new circus-based work. We continue to support and produce Shona Reppe and Alice Mary Cooper.
Staff continue to support independent artists and freelancers in the sector, through formal mentoring and informal advice, plus subsidised or free use of company rehearsal space and equipment.
Louise Gilmour Wills and Lauren Desjardins are on the board of ASSITEJ UK
Tony Reekie is on the committee CYAA (Children’s and Youth Arts Advocacy) and Catherine Wheels are a member
Catherine Wheels Theatre Company are part of a Young Audiences Scotland group working for the development of the performing arts in Scotland
Tony Reekie sits on the Advisory Board of Spark Arts for Children, Leicester
Catherine Wheels are a partner in the Meitheal Programme, an artist development Programme run by Theatre Branar, Galway, Ireland
Full details of the income generated and expenditure incurred are provided within the Statement of Financial Activities on page 10, together with the Notes thereon. This shows a decrease in unrestricted funds of £27,664.
The notes to the financial statements (Notes 4 & 7) disclose a shortfall in project funding for charitable activities of £266,037 for Theatre & Education Productions which illustrates our continued reliance on the core funding and other grants shown in Note 3. This reduction in grant funding, combined with essential investment in productions for the future and maintaining Core costs has resulted in the deficit this year. While the charity has had reserves in place to cope with such a deficit, long term this would not be sustainable, therefore the result of the impending Creative Scotland funding application is important in the context of the charity’s ability to continue its good work as in previous years. The management and Trustees have detailed scenario plans for the upcoming funding decision to enable the charity to continue as a going concern. The management and Trustees continue to make concerted efforts to make our charitable activities move towards breaking even.
The Balance Sheet at 31 March 2025 shows an decrease in net assets to £156,219.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees aim to maintain a cumulative surplus on unrestricted reserves which equates to three months of annual core costs, plus a fund of £20,000 in case of redundancies and a contingency of 10%. In assessing the quantum of this reserve, consideration was given to the effect that short-term adverse economic or trading conditions could have on the charity and its ability to sustain its operations until matters improved. Therefore, according to current year core costs, the reserves are set at £108,523 for 2024-25 (2023-24 - £108,523).
Investment Policy
The cash reserves of the organisation are held in interest bearing accounts. The Trustees keep this arrangement under regular review and pay particular attention to the requirement to ensure that sufficient liquidity is maintained to enable the organisation to manage its commitments.
PLANS FOR THE COMING YEAR
Our plans continue to embrace a focus on engagement with East Lothian, a need to play our role in environmental sustainability and a need to diversify the practitioners we work with, to represent and reflect our community and audience:
The Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy and Tentacle Girl
The culmination of our work with Vee Smith and Sadiq Ali, The Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy and Tentacle Girl will run at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Met Tiden (With Time)
Our collaboration with Teater Refleksion, Denmark, will begin its life in April 2025 with a run in Denmark and then tour to Scotland at dates to be confirmed.
Soundshapes
Soundshapes, a production for children with multiple learning disabilities, will run at Lyra, Artspace in Craigmillar in the first week of December 2025.
Home is East Lothian
Home is East Lothian is the name of our programme, which shows our commitment to the community we live in and the artists we want to support.
Make Space is a long-running programme that allows artists to develop ideas with the support of Catherine Wheels. Make Space always seeks to ensure proper representation and include individuals who have been historically underrepresented. In 2025 our Make Space will have a focus on projects made for, or with, young people in schools in East Lothian and will take place in three Primary Schools and one Secondary School.
Playground: Collaboration with Playwrights Studio, Scotland
In November, in collaboration with Playwrights Studio, Scotland we plan to run the first part of a programme exploring writing for young audiences.
Lightning Ridge
Rehearsals for a school's production will begin in September in readiness for a Theatre in Schools Scotland (TiSS) and small venues tour in early 2026.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee (SC203436) and a registered charity (SC029808).
The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its Trustees for the purpose of charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the Trustees. The Board of Trustees meets quarterly and is responsible for setting the policies that direct Catherine Wheels activities and to keep up to date with changes in legislature. All Trustees are expected to attend one training day per year.
The Trustees who served during the year and since the year end were as follows:
Trustees are currently recruited for their understanding and support of the work of the company and specialist skills and knowledge. Currently the Trustees have skills in the areas of fundraising, public funding for arts organisations, education, financial management, marketing and audience development. The company runs a development day for the Trustees each year to address training and skills development and to address changes in relevant legislative and regulatory changes as well as changes within the sector.
The Trustees are committed to developing a board of Trustees which reflects the diverse society in which the charity operates.
Organisational Management
The Board of Trustees meets quarterly and is responsible for setting the policies that direct Catherine Wheels activities and to keep up to date with changes in legislature. Catherine Wheels Theatre Company has a team of experienced staff. Gill Robertson is the founder and artistic director of Catherine Wheels Theatre Company and makes decisions on the artistic programme and direction of the charity. Tony Reekie manages the company’s overall strategy, the people who work for the company and has responsibility for the financial running and wellbeing of the company. Louise Gilmour-Wills is the producer for all the company’s productions and projects. Lauren Desjardins oversees all technical and logistical aspects of the company’s projects. Trustees develop the strategic plan for the company in collaboration with the Artistic Director and Executive Director.
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 2025, which are set out on pages 9 to 22.
The charity's trustees (who are also directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, and they consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1)(a) to (c) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1)(c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to our attention.
My examination was carried out in accordance with the Statement of Standards for Reporting Accountants and Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44 (1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities;
have not been met; or
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts 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.
Catherine Wheels Theatre Company Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is 22b High Street, East Linton, East Lothian, EH40 3AB.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's [governing document], the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) 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 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 on a going concern basis which assumes continued financial support from grant funders. Core grant funding has been secured for 2022/23 and additional project funding is continually being sought. The trustees have assessed the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern and have reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to operate for the foreseeable future. On this basis the trustees consider that the charity is a going concern.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates:
- Costs of raising funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income.
- 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.
- Production costs are recognised in the SoFA as incurred.
- Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.
- All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SoFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis, e.g. floor areas, per capita or estimated usage.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Tangible fixed assets costing more than £500 are capitalised and included at cost including any incidental expenses of acquisition.
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 net income/(expenditure) for the year.
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.
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 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.
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.
Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rates of exchange prevailing at the date of each transaction. Assets and liabilities are restated at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date, with resultant exchange differences included in the Statement of Financial Activities.
Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The charity makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are addressed below.
i) Useful economic lives of tangible assets
The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See note 12 for carrying amounts of tangible assets.
ii) Impairment of debtors
The charity makes an estimate of the recoverable value of trade and other debtors. When assessing impairment of trade and other debtors, management considers factors including the current credit rating of the debtor, the ageing profile of debtors and historical experience. See note 13 for carrying amount of debtors.
Core Grant
Other grants
Hire income
Hire income
Other income
Contributions to costs
Production costs
Travel, Accommodation and Subsistence
Royalties
Marketing and Advertising
Rent
Water
Insurance
Light and heat
Repairs and maintenance
Postage and stationery
Telephone
Travelling expenses
Consultancy fees
Sundry expenses
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or reimbursement of expenses during the year.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The key management personnel of the charity, comprise the Trustees, the Chief Executive, Executive Director and Producer. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £116,347 (2024: £106,606).
The designated fund for fixed assets represents the funds tied up in the charity’s tangible fixed assets.
Studio, Equipment & Rehearsal continues to allow for a gradual overhaul and replacement of identified equipment upgrades that are required and assist the company in terms of cutting carbon costs.
Staff Development and Programme Development enable the company to remain reflexive and responsive to opportunities and challenges, beyond the programme outlined for the period of Multi-Year Funding from Creative Scotland.
YA Audience Sector Research: Catherine Wheels are holding funds for a sectoral research funded by Creative Scotland.
At 31 March 2023 the charity had total future minimum commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows: