Agenda item

NORDEN FARM ANNUAL REPORT

To receive a report on the Annual Report for Norden Farm.

Minutes:

Suzie Parr, Museum and Arts Team Leader, introduced the Norden Farm and pointed out that the report was with respect to 2018/19 activity. Jane Corry, Chief Executive, would share with the Panel all the past work and the benefits to residents and visitors in the borough. Suzie Parr suggested that a further presentation be give later in the year on the 2019/20 activities.

 

Martin Kaye, Chair of Trustees, gave an opening introduction to the Panel. Other Norden Farm representatives present at the meeting included Jane Corey, CE and Artistic Director, Ray Bauer, Financial Controller and John Seymour, Trustee and Chairman of Finance Committee. Martin Kaye continued and gave a background to where Norden Farm were currently and Jane Corey would cover the community engagement and the engagement with schools locally and then John Seymour would cover the financial results for the year ending 2019/19. Norden Farm had been closed since mid-March 2020 and were planning to reopen in September 2020. Planning of the reopening would take place during July and September, in order to make the venue safe for visitors and staff. Jane Corey had been working on the digital offering for residents to still be able to offer the services of Norden Farm, even after reopening, making the facility open for more residents. Martin Kaye thanked the council for their support.

 

Jane Corey, CE and Artistic Director went through the following points for the Panel:

 

·         2018/19 had been a good year for Norden Farm;

·         Had engaged with over 194,000 people

·         Operational highlight was installing the new raked seating in the studio;

·         Produced another original children’s show where 9000 people attended and this would now tour the country.

·         Produced the very first Maidenhead Kite Festival in the park;

·         Launched the new Norden Farm night market series;

·         Held the tenth lantern parade;

·         The Community engagement events included groups at Norden Farm every month, these included Maidenhead Arts Society, Maidenhead Music Society, Maidenhead Drama Festival, Maidenhead Festival, Maidenhead painting club, all of the schools, local groups, Shakespeare projects, all of the choirs and Maidenhead Music Festival.

·         There were 200 local volunteers including a new gardening team and talking tables, this is part of the challenge to address social isolation in the borough, where people taking part in shows are encouraged to join a table before and after the show run by volunteers and they would discuss the shows here and make new friends.

·         The projects that were run included the Kite festival, Lantern parade, Jump In (family arts festival), Beach (last all summer), Social arts (arts programmes for socially isolated elderly residents), young leadership scheme and young creatives scheme.

·         Norden Farm works with all primary and secondary schools in Maidenhead and fundraising takes place to provide art activities for them.

·         Groups and classes – well attended and for Adults, Children and pre-school;

·         Work with disadvantaged groups such as DASH, AfC with looked after children, women in refuge, TVAP, family friends and the Alexander Devine Hospice.

 

John Seymour, Chairman of Finance Committee gave the Panel a detailed financial report to the Panel. The monies were earned from Norden Farm through the arts programs, classes, hires, memberships and catering, this all provided the income of 85% of the total cost. The cost of running the centre of which 60% covered staff costs, which were higher than the operating income. The difference was made up by the core grant that was received from the borough. Norden Farm aimed to make a small operating surplus to give some reserve. The SLA committed to Norden Farm not making a loss but this may have to be changed with the present emergency. The Royal borough grant currently covered 15% of total costs compared to 40% some years back. A lot of progress had been made to boost Norden Farm earnings. The costs had been rising more that the income mainly because of staffing costs such as the increase in the minimum wage and the introduction of work based pension. This had an effect on the operational surplus and in 2018/19, Norden Farm made a small surplus of £6.4K in the 2018/19 year. The make-up of the budget was made of live shows, these were the biggest contributor’s at 25%, hires which were the most profiting activity, had been reducing. The biggest growth area was participatory events went up from just under 10% to just under 13%. This was as a result of the very busy community engagement agenda that Jane Corey had been presenting. The costs were made up mainly by marketing, administration and operating. The performance was set against the business plan and the financial scene showed that in 2018/19, Norden Farm had fulfilled its financial aspects as in the business plan.  The Annual Report that was included in the statutory accounts that was prepared for the AGM. The accounts showed a depreciation of £158K in 2018/19 for site, buildings and plant, not a net cost but the cost was very high.

 

Jane Corey continued and reported that the box office attendance for 2018/19 was a  total of 194,602 tickets until 18 March 2020 when Norden Farm was closed. Norden Farm had now lost all its income and the estimated loss was £134K. Jane Corey continued to inform the Panel that within two days of Norden Farm closing, they had their first online digital class. However, Norden Farm had continued all of its workshops for disadvantaged groups, these were real time workshops and classes, continued to work with schools, the community poetry project for the borough had been launched, adult and children classes had moved online, got many volunteers online and started fundraising to provide all the projects digitally.

 

Martin Kaye concluded the presentation thanking the Panel.

 

Councillor Del Campo commented that Norden Farm had done really well to continue and support the most disadvantaged groups. She asked why there had been a decrease in revenue. Jane Corey explained that with a participatory programme, the main aim was to get people involved at Norden Farm in activities and events vs corporate room hire which brought the funds in. The plan was to look to see if an extension could be created to allow both but this all came to a holt as a result of Covid-19.

 

Councillor Bowden asked if Norden Farm had received any grants and was informed that all but five staff had been furloughed and they were not entitled to any grants. They had applied for the discretionary grant and were awaiting the decision. Norden Farm had decided against any loans at present.

 

Councillor Bhangra asked how Norden Farm had been fundraising after Covid-19. Jane Corey responded that they had been overwhelmed especially at the beginning with people donating funds, it had now become less. Norden Farm had been supported by Maidenhead United Football Club.

 

Councillor Price asked what had been the biggest challenge. Jane Corey informed the Panel that costs had been going up, people were scaling back, the venue was turning space usage around three to four times and this was the reason more staff were required. Jane Corey was very positive about the digital programme and this would really help.

 

Councillor Price requested to see the current SLA that was in place.

 

ACTION: Suzie Parr to provide SLA to Panel Members.

 

Councillor Rayner commented that Norden Farm had reacted amazingly and very fast to Covid-19 and had reached so many new audiences.

 

Councillor Werner commented that Norden Farm was a jewel in the crown for Maidenhead. He asked what could the council do further to help them through these times. Martin Kaye appreciated the core grant that was provided by the borough but some reassurance on next year’s grant continuation would be beneficial for planning ahead.

Suzie Parr, Museum and Arts Team Leader, introduced the Norden Farm and pointed out that the report was with respect to 2018/19 activity. Jane Corry, Chief Executive, would share with the Panel all the past work and the benefits to residents and visitors in the borough. Suzie Parr suggested that a further presentation be give later in the year on the 2019/20 activities.

 

Martin Kaye, Chair of Trustees, gave an opening introduction to the Panel. Other Norden Farm representatives present at the meeting included Jane Corry, CE and Artistic Director, Ray Bauer, Financial Controller and John Seymour, Trustee and Chairman of Finance Committee. Martin Kaye continued and gave a background to where Norden Farm were currently and Jane Corey would cover the community engagement and the engagement with schools locally and then John Seymour would cover the financial results for the year ending 2019/19. Norden Farm had been closed since mid-March 2020 and were planning to reopen in September 2020. Planning of the reopening would take place during July and September, in order to make the venue safe for visitors and staff. Jane Corry had been working on the digital offering for residents to still be able to offer the services of Norden Farm, even after reopening, making the facility open for more residents. Martin Kaye thanked the council for their support.

 

Jane Corry, CE and Artistic Director went through the following points for the Panel:

 

·         2018/19 had been a good year for Norden Farm;

·         Had engaged with over 194,000 people

·         Operational highlight was installing the new raked seating in the studio;

·         Produced another original children’s show where 9000 people attended and this would now tour the country.

·         Produced the very first Maidenhead Kite Festival in the park;

·         Launched the new Norden Farm night market series;

·         Held the tenth lantern parade;

·         The Community engagement events included groups at Norden Farm every month, these included Maidenhead Arts Society, Maidenhead Music Society, Maidenhead Drama Festival, Maidenhead Festival, Maidenhead painting club, all of the schools, local groups, Shakespeare projects, all of the choirs and Maidenhead Music Festival.

·         There were 200 local volunteers including a new gardening team and talking tables, this is part of the challenge to address social isolation in the borough, where people taking part in shows are encouraged to join a table before and after the show run by volunteers and they would discuss the shows here and make new friends.

·         The projects that were run included the Kite festival, Lantern parade, Jump In (family arts festival), Beach (last all summer), Social arts (arts programmes for socially isolated elderly residents), young leadership scheme and young creatives scheme.

·         Norden Farm works with all primary and secondary schools in Maidenhead and fundraising takes place to provide art activities for them.

·         Groups and classes – well attended and for Adults, Children and pre-school;

·         Work with disadvantaged groups such as DASH, AfC with looked after children, Women in Refuge, TVAP, Family Friends and the Alexander Devine Hospice.

 

John Seymour, Chairman of Finance Committee gave the Panel a detailed financial report to the Panel. The monies were earned from Norden Farm through the arts programs, classes, hires, memberships and catering, this all provided the income of 85% of the total cost. The cost of running the centre of which 60% covered staff costs, which were higher than the operating income. The difference was made up by the core grant that was received from the Borough. Norden Farm aimed to make a small operating surplus to give some reserve. The SLA committed to Norden Farm not making a loss but this may have to be changed with the present emergency. The Royal Borough grant currently covered 15% of total costs compared to 40% some years back. A lot of progress had been made to boost Norden Farm earnings. The costs had been rising more than the income mainly because of staffing costs such as the increase in the minimum wage and the introduction of work based pension. This had an effect on the operational surplus and in 2018/19, Norden Farm made a small surplus of £6.4K in the 2018/19 year. The make-up of the budget was made of live shows, these were the biggest contributor’s at 25%, hires which were the most profitable activity, had been reducing. The biggest growth area was participatory events, which went up from just under 10% to just under 13%. This was as a result of the very busy community engagement agenda that Jane Corry had been presenting. The costs were made up mainly by marketing, administration and operating. The performance was set against the business plan and the financial scene showed that in 2018/19, Norden Farm had fulfilled its financial aspects as in the business plan.  The Annual Report that was included in the statutory accounts that was prepared for the AGM. The accounts showed a depreciation of £158K in 2018/19 for site, buildings and plant, not a net cost but the cost was very high.

 

Jane Corry continued and reported that the box office attendance for 2018/19 was a  total of 194,602 tickets until 18 March 2020 when Norden Farm was closed. Norden Farm had now lost all its income and the estimated loss was £134K. Jane Corry continued to inform the Panel that within two days of Norden Farm closing, they had their first online digital class. However, Norden Farm had continued all of its workshops for disadvantaged groups, these were real time workshops and classes, continued to work with schools, the community poetry project for the borough had been launched, adult and children classes had moved online, got many volunteers online and started fundraising to provide all the projects digitally.

 

Martin Kaye concluded the presentation thanking the Panel.

 

Councillor Del Campo commented that Norden Farm had done really well to continue and support the most disadvantaged groups. She asked why there had been a decrease in revenue. Jane Corry explained that with a participatory programme, the main aim was to get people involved at Norden Farm in activities and events vs corporate room hire which brought the funds in. The plan was to look to see if an extension could be created to allow both but this all came to a holt as a result of Covid-19.

 

Councillor Bowden asked if Norden Farm had received any grants and was informed that all but five staff had been furloughed and they were not entitled to any grants. They had applied for the discretionary grant and were awaiting the decision. Norden Farm had decided against any loans at present.

 

Councillor Bhangra asked how Norden Farm had been fundraising after Covid-19. Jane Corry responded that they had been overwhelmed especially at the beginning with people donating funds, it had now become less. Norden Farm had been supported by Maidenhead United Football Club.

 

Councillor Price asked what had been the biggest challenge. Jane Corry informed the Panel that costs had been going up, people were scaling back, the venue was turning space usage around three to four times and this was the reason more staff were required. Jane Corry was very positive about the digital programme and this would really help.

 

Councillor Price requested to see the current SLA that was in place.

 

ACTION: Suzie Parr to provide SLA to Panel Members.

 

Councillor Rayner commented that Norden Farm had reacted amazingly and very fast to Covid-19 and had reached so many new audiences.

 

Councillor Werner commented that Norden Farm was a jewel in the crown for Maidenhead. He asked what could the council do further to help them through these times. Martin Kaye appreciated the core grant that was provided by the borough but some reassurance on next year’s grant continuation would be beneficial for planning ahead.

 

Supporting documents: