for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
| Directors report | |
| Profit and loss | |
| Balance sheet | |
| Additional notes | |
| Balance sheet notes | |
| Community Interest Report |
Directors' report period ended
The directors present their report with the financial statements of the company for the period ended 31 August 2025
Principal activities of the company
Directors
The director shown below has held office during the whole of the period from
1 September 2024
to
31 August 2025
The above report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions in part 15 of the Companies Act 2006
This report was approved by the board of directors on
And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name:
Status: Director
for the Period Ended
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As at
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| Intangible assets: | 3 |
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| Tangible assets: | 4 |
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| Debtors: | 5 |
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| Creditors: amounts falling due within one year: | 6 |
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| Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year: | 7 |
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The notes form part of these financial statements
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 August 2025
Basis of measurement and preparation
Turnover policy
Tangible fixed assets depreciation policy
Intangible fixed assets amortisation policy
Other accounting policies
for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
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for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
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for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
| Land & buildings | Plant & machinery | Fixtures & fittings | Office equipment | Motor vehicles | Total | |
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for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
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| £ | £ | |
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for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
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for the Period Ended 31 August 2025
| 2025 | 2024 | |
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| Other creditors |
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As a collective of circus artists and friends of the circus arts, run by co-artistic directors Toffy Paulweber and Jared Shanks, our ambition is to tell meaningful stories through uplifting and silly circus arts, to tour our shows to communities that rarely get to see contemporary circus, and to build a long-term home where artists can train and create their own work. This year (Sep 2024 to Aug 2025) the companys focus broadened from one touring show to a wider portfolio of public-facing activity. Our second main-house show, "Stella's Imaginarium", ran as our Christmas family show at Hoxton Hall, where we are now Associate Artists - a residency that has given us rehearsal space, mentoring and a deeper relationship with the venues east London audience. Alongside this, we developed "Balance", our new acrobatic duet, and took part in a mentorship session with Turtle Key Arts focused on company goals, mission, vision and 10-year planning, which has helped us set a clearer long-term direction. We have also been actively building relationships with the UK's rural touring networks, with the aim of bringing "Balance" into village halls and community venues outside the usual contemporary circus circuit in coming years. Locally in Hackney, we deepened our community work substantially. We delivered a large outdoor family event at Dalston Square commissioned by LB Hackney, performing as stilt-walking bees on an environmental theme, running giant-bubble play with children throughout the afternoon, and leading a street musicians band in a parade through the square - joined by local kids carrying paper puppets they had made in an earlier workshop. We ran a lantern-making and performance afternoon at Hoxton Hall as part of our Associate Artists programme. We ran a participatory project with Hackney Circle and Strictly Hoxton bringing older residents into the rehearsal room; collaborated with Ministry of Stories on a young writers / circus crossover; and hosted student visits and skills sessions with New City College. This work was supported in part by a Hackney Festive Fund award and by paid commissions from the Council, allowing us to keep activities free at the point of access for participants. We continued to run low-stakes scratch nights and R and D sharings - opportunities for emerging and established artists to test new work in front of a live audience without commercial pressure. We see these evenings as one of the most direct ways the company benefits the wider circus community: they create a pipeline of new work, give early-career artists their first public credits, and keep the form alive between major productions. Taken together, this year moved Brainfools from "a touring company with one show" to a small but more rounded community organisation - making, touring, teaching and commissioning - and laid the groundwork for further growth in 2025–26, including the development of "Wurst Ende Cabaret" and a continuation of the "Balance" tour into new regions.
The stakeholders of Brainfools CIC include a range of individuals and groups who are directly or indirectly involved in the company's activities. Our key stakeholders this year were: - The collective of circus artists and friends of the circus arts who form the core of Brainfools, including the cast, creative teams and freelance technicians engaged on "Stella's Imaginarium" and "Balance". - Emerging artists who took part in our scratch nights, R&D weeks and Associate Artist sessions at Hoxton Hall. - Hoxton Hall, our Associate Artists host venue, who provide rehearsal time, programming dialogue and audience reach. - Turtle Key Arts, who delivered a mentorship session with us on company goals, mission, vision and long-term planning. - The UK's rural touring networks, with whom we are building relationships to take future work into village halls and community venues. - The London Borough of Hackney, both as funder (Hackney Festive Fund) and commissioner (Dalston Square family event), and the residents who attended those activities. - Hackney Circle, Strictly Hoxton, Ministry of Stories and New City College, our community-engagement partners working with older residents, young writers and FE students respectively. - Audiences in rural touring venues and at Hoxton Hall, whose feedback shapes how we programme and produce. - Suppliers of rigging, set, costume and technical equipment essential to delivering the work safely. Consultation has taken several practical forms across the year. With our artist collective and Associate Artists, we have held regular development sessions, R and D weeks, post-show debriefs and one-to-one conversations during the "Balance" and "Stella's Imaginarium" processes, with feedback feeding directly into casting, dramaturgy and creative decisions. The mentorship session with Turtle Key Arts gave us a structured outside-eye on our goals, mission, vision and 10-year plan, and has shaped how we are sequencing future shows and partnerships. With our community partners - Hackney Circle, Strictly Hoxton, Ministry of Stories, New City College - we have run joint planning meetings before each strand of activity and structured feedback conversations after, adjusting session formats and pacing in response. With audiences, we have used post-show conversations and informal feedback at Hoxton Hall and at the Dalston Square event, which has shaped how we frame the work to non-traditional circus audiences. With our Council and venue partners, we have held planning calls and reporting conversations attached to each commissioned project. Where this consultation led to concrete changes: we set a clearer long-term direction for the company off the back of the Turtle Key Arts mentorship; we restructured our scratch evenings to give artists longer development time before showing; and we adjusted the format of our Hackney Circle and Strictly Hoxton sessions in response to participant input on pace and accessibility. Across all our stakeholder relationships we remain committed to open, ongoing conversation, and to adapting the company's activities so they continue to meet the needs of the communities we work with as we grow.
No remuneration was received
No transfer of assets other than for full consideration
This report was approved by the board of directors on
29 May 2026
And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name: C. Paulweber
Status: Director