The objects of the Company are to carry out activities that benefit the community and in particular (without limitation) to local communities within Greater Manchester and Lancashire, with particular focus upon communities facing the highest levels of exclusion and under- representation. We do this by: - Designing, curating and managing creative public engagement events, activities and projects. - Developing and delivering training, mentoring and development support with focus upon public engagement and regenerative cultures. - Writing publications and supporting research – primarily focusing upon the field of creative community engagement. - Supporting other organisations and settings to develop accessible resources and projects, particularly in terms of projects engaging people who are more likely to be excluded from cultural opportunities. - During this financial year we continued to develop this work, with focus upon developing regenerative creative practice with and for artists, creatives, the cultural sector, and communities The highlight of activity and impact was: - As educators we supported ten apprentices on their permaculture diploma pathway - this a vibrant network that supports apprentices to put permaculture theory into practice and develop a range of new skills. - Delivered two online Introduction to Permaculture Courses for Artists, Creatives and Cultural Workers with 45 people participating across the two courses, each of which was 12 hours long. - Delivered three workshops and a keynote presentation for Arts Council England at the the Creative People and Places conference in Barrow On Furness, exploring regenerative approaches to place based arts and culture projects. - Convened 4 x commons spaces which are an opportunity for our wider community of regenerative arts practice to come together, share experiences and learn from each other. - Convened 4 x Creative Roots sessions which is an open access group supporting participants to explore ideas around art, imagination and permaculture design. A total of 40 people benefitted from these sessions. - Provided free advice to 16 people / organisations who wanted to begin exploring ideas of regenerative cultural practice within their work. These sessions took the form of a one hour phone call / Zoom meeting. - Continued to support Left Coast and Heart of Glass as a critical friend exploring how to embed regenerative practices within their process and structure. - Convened an Introduction to Permaculture for gardeners in a local community garden, attended by 9 people over two days. - Offered Life Skills for Better future continued support as a mentor / critical friend to develop and deliver their own Introduction to Permaculture course delivered within the refugee community in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. In total 20 people participated in the course which focused upon home gardens - we also helped create a tool library to support participants on the course. - Delivered our second full online Permaculture Design Course for Artists and Creatives. 23 people participated in this course over a 12 month period. - Developed and delivered 4 x one off regenerative culture courses for external partners. In total 61 people took part in these courses. - Developed and delivered 7 x workshops with artists and youth workers in Rochdale exploring different ways to embed arts led delivery within youth work settings. - Delivered 22 nature connection sessions for local children and their families in our local nature reserve.

Stakeholder engagement is central to all aspects of our work. The main stakeholders for our work are the community of practice developing as a result of our work around regenerative practice, and the wider community of interest associated with this. In addition to this the organisations that we work with are also key, as are the participants in the different projects that we facilitate. During this financial year that happened in a range of ways: - We support all of our education offerings with ongoing reflection structures to ensure that the experience of participants is at the heart of everything that we develop and deliver. This takes place at the end of each course / offering but is also central to each course as it is being delivered so that we might learn and develop at all stages based upon the experiences of our stakeholders. - The Commons sessions are an ongoing opportunity to engage in conversation with our stakeholders, particularly course participants, thinking about how the community of practice that we are all part of is able to support us all to learn, grow and develop. This happens in an informal way through conversation and feedback during each session, which take place four times a year and are open to all. - The Creative Roots sessions are open to all and are shaped by the desires and aspirations of the people who take part. This happens through reflection forms after each year of sessions, and also through forms where we reach out and ask participants what they would like to see us develop next. - We offer free to access calls for anyone who is interested in our work, and see this as a way to connect with our wider community. During this financial year 16 people took up this offer, and the things we heard and discussed inform the development of our offer going forward. - We ensure open dialogue with the organisations that we work with to ensure that their voices are heard and that the work we develop together reflects their wider aspirations. This happens informally through email and conversation, but they have also have access to a reflection form at all times where they are able to share their experiences, and thoughts. All of this is crucial to this things that we develop together. - During our work with youth workers and artists in Rochdale a process of reflection was embedded at the heart of the project - and the learning as we went along informed the project as it developed. This form of reflective learning and emergence is at the heart of all of our work. Within our nature connection group with young people the consultation is less formal, but through conversation and connection over the longer term the young people take the lead to develop the activities that they would like to participate in. And also to express the support that they need in order to engage with the nature reserve in the way that they would like to.

Liz Postlethwaite received renumeration of £18,220 in this financial year (2024: £11,446)

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration