ANNUAL REPORT 2016/17
“It’s so exciting! When are the new ideas going to start? I can’t wait to see what the next one is like” Care Home Resident
Director’s report “Autonomy and social participation are so important for health that their lack leads to deterioration in health.” Sir Michael Marmot 2016-17 has been an exciting year, with new activities alongside our continuing programme. Our intergenerational performance projects with schools addressed very different social questions. In ‘Journeys’ students and older people explored life’s journeys, transitions and migrations. In ‘Decorum’ they looked at how women are expected to behave in the 21st Century. Our ‘Artists Residencies in Care Homes’ programme continued, with Upswing and Duckie joining Punchdrunk Enrichment and Lois Weaver. ‘Cocktails in Care Homes’ continues to flourish, recruiting more volunteers and more care homes added to the party schedule.
In London, different communities can live parallel lives. As always, in 2016-17 our projects brought together people from widely different cultures, building new connections and neighbourliness. Whatever our age, two things that really affect our health and wellbeing are social connectedness and having control of our own lives. Magic Me offers these, bringing younger and older people together in creative projects where they can find, or rediscover, a sense of purpose and status as collaborators and citizens. Generations share skills and experiences and young people are supported to become active, confident adults. As the many pictures in this report show, projects also bring the joy of creative participation. Susan Langford MBE, Director
Chair’s report The past year has been a turbulent one for the United Kingdom and the world. We are all even more aware of the need to combat the fear of difference that leads to widening rifts and the potential for violent actions. Magic Me’s work connecting together diverse elements of the community seems ever more important in this context and our project centred around how women are expected to behave in the modern world even more timely. Our new 3 Year Strategic Plan acknowledges the crisis in care homes and state schools and the need to address social isolation and loneliness. Our trustees and staff are working together to meet these challenges alongside our artists, freelancers and volunteers; I would like to thank them all for their unstinting work and input. I would also like to thank
This year we worked with: the funders and partners who recognise the value of what we do and who have supported Magic Me this year. Magic Me will continue to challenge the ageist attitude that, being old, people would not enjoy up-to-date performing arts work or be able to participate because they are physically or mentally frail. We will also continue to provide artists with a new challenge in a new environment. Our work to disseminate good practice and research in the area of intergenerational arts is vital in creating a community and network of artists and arts organisations capable of delivering this type of work to a wider audience, spreading the magic a little further! Alison Harvie, Chair of Trustees
525 participants
349 volunteers 6 cultural and arts organisations 2 community centres 13 care homes 3 schools 15 funders 6 business supporters 4 universities 3,760 audience members
Isolation & loneliness
In 2016/17 we held 98 Cocktails in Care Homes parties for 332 older people with 281 volunteers
“It came totally unexpected...suddenly this sadness hit me... I knew it was people I needed.” Silk Court resident Social isolation and loneliness have been increasingly identified as major risks to the health and wellbeing of the growing population of older people in the UK. Magic Me has long been a pioneer of fresh solutions that bring together generations through the arts, connecting communities. 2016-17 saw our innovative Cocktails in Care Homes project go from strength to strength. We commissioned NAPA (National Association of Providers of Activities) to research how best to grow this successful model. We already partner 10 care homes, each holding regular once a month parties with a team of 350 volunteers signed up. Parties are themed, with decorations that transform sometimes bland, everyday settings into somewhere special for older people to meet and talk with young adult volunteers. Parties provide a new opportunity for staff, relatives and guests to interact with residents in a more sociable way. Public Health Tower Hamlets commissioned us to lead their Action on Loneliness project – the latest research told them that loneliness isn’t just something that makes you sad, it can also have long term impacts on both physical and mental health. 51 Action on Loneliness volunteers were paired up with older people in six care homes, through weekly visits. Magic Me’s approach serves those living with dementia, valuing creative and non-verbal ways to communicate, be together and find common connections.
“40% of care home residents describe themselves as lonely”
Supporting young people Magic Me creates projects designed by artists to provide a space for people of different ages, backgrounds and cultures to meet and get to know one another, and to see the world from each other’s viewpoint. Older people are often keen to develop their untapped talents and their enthusiasm encourages young people to do the same. The projects we create give young people and adults equal status and don’t shy away from tackling difficult issues. In ‘Decorum’ we brought together 21 women from a range of backgrounds, ethnicities and faiths. Ten teenagers from Mulberry School for Girls and eleven women aged 60+, drawn from across the East End, they were asked to consider what ‘good behaviour’ means for modern women. Over ten weeks the group worked with
“A pupil just said she now feels confident socialising with people of any age” Mulberry School
theatre practitioner, and Magic Me associate artist, Sue Mayo and dance artist Ellie Sikorski to explore the topic and to create a performance piece. They asked: what happens if you challenge social norms of what to wear, what to say, when to speak and when to be quiet? Presented at the Women of the World Festival at the Southbank Centre the show ‘Decorum: Dilemmas for Twenty-First Century Women’ was a mix of performance, conversation and uncalled for advice.
‘At the beginning of the project I thought it would be sad working with older women, but I was surprised, it was not at all, they are so fun and funny.’ Decorum Participant
“The project made them more thoughtful and encouraged them to take responsibility” Mulberry School
High quality arts
As an intergenerational arts charity, Magic Me strives to ensure that it delivers art of the highest quality, often in non-traditional contexts involving people from non-arts backgrounds. We ask our artists and arts partners to challenge notions of the type of arts or projects that are suitable for school children and care home communities and we know from their feedback that artists are as excited as we are about meeting that challenge:
“The most exciting and challenging thing about this project was moulding our practice to fit into this setting… In terms of activities and narrative we wanted to remain flexible and responsive, avoiding dumbing down based on unfounded levels of expectation.” Punchdrunk Enrichment. 2016-17 saw the completion of our Artists Residencies in Care Homes programme with Anchor. Alt-cabaret collective Duckie and circus company Upswing, followed Punchdrunk Enrichment and Lois Weaver who delivered their residencies in 2015-16. Duckie created the ‘Palace of Varieties’ at Waterside Care Home – based on reminiscences about local heritage and historical entertainment. Each Friday saw a new theme for the Palace of Varieties including a Fireworks night with fire eater, a Christmas extravaganza, countryside and international editions. Upswing brought circus to town at Silk Court care home with a 10 week programme of juggling, balance, music, clowning and even aerial.
“ I feel inspired and intrigued in the possibilities of using creativity as a way to connect with people that might bypass memory. Connection in the here and now” Duckie artist
Cohesive community “Creating confident citizens and cohesive communities” “This heart is filled with happy and wonderful memories from Magic Me and will always stay there!!!” Journey’s Participant
Many of the young people we work with in Tower Hamlets come from disadvantaged homes and communities. Through our projects they get to work with professional artists and learn new skills. Even more crucially, in their interaction with adult participants, working on the same level, as creative collaborators, they develop new social skills and confidence. Students, especially those with English as a second or third language, flourish with the one-to-one attention from older adults. Everyone surprises themselves with what they can achieve. Our Journeys project, led by artists Emma Higham and Chuck Lowry, brought together older people from Tower Hamlets (linked to Bromley-by-Bow Centre and the Fern Street Settlement) with pupils from Clara Grant and Old Palace Primary Schools. Using storytelling, movement, video and recorded sound they created an original performance about life’s journeys, migrations and transitions.
“I’ve learned that big people can work with small people” Journey’s Participant
Pioneering solutions
With 28 years’ experience Magic Me is acknowledged as a leader in the field of intergenerational arts practice. We constantly challenge ourselves and the artists we work with to find fresh solutions to community issues and to provide high-quality arts to those who might not otherwise experience them. Intergenerational practice is at the core of what we do and brings additional and particular benefits and challenges to participative arts practice. Keen to encourage more artists and arts organisations to try our proven approaches, we invest each year in our Sharing the Learning programme. We produce reports, podcasts and videos reflecting on projects and the practice involved in them, plus events for artists and other professionals from the care, housing and education sectors, to encourage learning, discussion and debate. This year we published a report, video and podcasts about our Artists Residencies in Care Homes programme and a reflective report on Action on Loneliness. Find them at www.magicme.co.uk This Autumn, NAPA’s members’ magazine for people providing activities in care homes will showcase ideas from the Artists Residencies, inspiring others to run stimulating activities in 2,500 care homes across the country.
“Our ambition is to increase our impact and reach and to promote intergenerational arts practice” MAGIC ME’S
ARTISTS RESIDENCIES IN CARE HOMES
LOIS WEAVER PUNCHDRUNK ENRICHMENT UPSWING DUCKIE & ANCHOR 2015-17 1
Looking forward Our new 3 Year Strategic Plan identifies the need to increase the impact and reach of our work, and ways that this could be achieved: through extending geographically, by disseminating learning and by offering more digitally. Following a similar path as the historic inward and outward migration from our starting point here in Tower Hamlets, we will begin to extend into new geographical locations and communities in East London, outer London and the east of England. We have already been commissioned by Essex County Council to provide mentoring and support for their new intergenerational arts project in the small community of Rochford and Cocktails in Care Homes has also begun to work with new London Boroughs, care home managements and creative partners.
We will reach new places and people by capacity building and we are looking to work with new partners to enable delivery of projects in other localities. For example, following work in 2016 with Metal in Peterborough, we are now working with them, local artists and community groups to develop intergenerational practice and projects in the city and their second base, Southend. To grow our digital presence we will develop a new website and explore how we can use digital means (video, podcast, social media) to create an intergenerational arts network encompassing artists, schools, care homes, community, health and arts organisations as well as participants, academics and other interested people. Our new, large scale Decorum project will begin to explore what is possible in the digital world.
“This is what I’ve learned. Let your curiosity run free and you’ll always get your answers.” Magic Me participant
Sharing
As well as running our own programme we have taken part in others’ projects related to what we do – for example the Calouste Gulbenkian Inquiry into the Civic Role of Arts Organisations. We are also part of groups and forums such as East London Cultural Education Partnership and What Next? During 16/17 our Director, Susan Langford presented our work and approach at events including: • The Family Arts Conference 2017 on working with older people and families. • A workshop at Metal in Peterborough, for local artists and community activists. • A talk at the symposium ‘Look Twice: Towards an Age-Friendly Cultural City’ organised by Foam photography gallery in Amsterdam. Magic Me provides training and consultancy services, and speakers or workshops for conferences and events. Our new digital strategy will be exploring ways to work with more people by engaging digitally – meaning those who are geographically remote can also participate.
“This kind of work is at the forefront of a new wave of socially engaged artistic practice and will make a strong contribution to the arts and cultural sector” Arts Council – appraisal of Decorum 2016/17
Our team
We remember Magic Me participants who passed away in 2016 and 2017 Salim Ali
Noel Davidon
Henry O’Dwyer
Toolsey Beezadhur
Colin Foster
Brenda Paulette Khan
Robert Bell
Hannah Hamilton
Peter Savige
Virginia Birmingham
Gladys Hayes
Jack Stallard
Carol Bonfield
Gladys Hunt
Pam Tesner
Edna Bradford
Gladys James
Elsie Worsley
Holly Campbell
Albert Kelley
Flora
Margaret Coffey
John Law
Miriam Dale
Stanley Lazarus
We couldn’t do all this without our brilliant community of people. Thank you to everyone who has been part of Magic Me’s work this year. Board of Trustees
Current Staff
Ex Staff working during 2016/17
Alison Harvie Chair Cynthia Edwards Wilson Secretary Ben Haber Treasurer Holly Aston James Barrett Vickie Grace Lynne Hale Denise Leander Stewart Lund Aimee O’Malley Sanjay Vyas Treasurer (resigned 23 March 2017)
Susan Langford MBE Director Kate Hodson Programme Director Phoebe Grudzinskas Cocktails in Care Homes Project Manager Imogen Duffin Fundraising Co-ordinator Katherine Eves Project Co-ordinator Rosie Goldsmith Project Co-ordinator Cocktails in Care Homes
Sarah Dean General Manager Adam Butler Volunteer Manager Stella Odunlami Projects Manager Ellie Watmough Project Manager Care Homes
Current Staff who joined in 2017/18
Associates
Mark Bixter General Manager Deborah Mason Communications Manager
Freelance Project Managers Marine Begault Lehni Lamide Davies Louise Alexander Accountant Sue Mayo Associate Artist Dr Caoimhe McAvinchey Researcher, Queen Mary University of London Anna Scrine Development Consultant
Thanks to Professional Services D.R. ink Design Richard Hopper, Auditor Hands Up Web developers The Young Foundation and all our good neighbours at 18 Victoria Park Square Photographers & Film Makers Roxene Anderson, Ciara Ceolin, Marcus Hessenberg, Chuck Lowry, Brian Slater, Whalebone Films
Professional Volunteers Rosanna Cooper Enews template design Williams Murray Hamm Brand design Clare Burgess Frou Frou Days, Party themes Admin and Office Volunteers Sarina Hancock, Maariyah Syeda Annual Report Photography Credits Paul Cochrane, Marcus Hessenberg, Roxene Anderson, Brian Slater, Paul Williams (for People’s Postcode Lottery)
Artists Residencies in Care Homes Residents and Staff of Rose Court with Lois Weaver; Greenhive with Punchdrunk Enrichment; Silk Court with Upswing and Waterside with Duckie Magic Me Artist Mentors Julian Weston, Surya Turner Thanks to all the artists, volunteers and students Placement Students Anna Shelmerdine
Journeys Participants from Bromley By Bow Centre and the Fern Street Settlement, Clara Grant Primary and Old Palace Primary Schools Artists Emma Higham and Chuck Lowry Decorum Participants from across Tower Hamlets and the Mulberry School for Girls Artists Ellie Sikorski and Sue Mayo
Action on Loneliness Local volunteers, residents and staff from Pat Shaw House, Peter Shore Court, Sonali Gardens, Westport Care Centre, Hawthorn Green Residential and Nursing Home and Silk Court Care Home My Home Life Project Consultants Marine Begault, Evaluation Coordinator Syeda Begum Bilingual Project Assistant
Cocktails in Care Homes Residents and staff from George Mason Lodge, Greenhive Care Home, Hawthorn Green Residential and Nursing Home, Mildmay Extra Care Services No.s 73 & 20-26, Pat Shaw House, Rose Court Care Home, Silk Court Care Home and Westport Care Centre
All our wonderful volunteers including our volunteer party managers Chris Ali, Victoria Armitage, Lindsay Brown, Trish Birkin, Sophie FanningTichborne, Eimear Hurley, Anna Koziol, Helen Lidis, Chloe LloydHorton, Helen O’Kelly, Zosia Poulter, Charlie Smoothy, Dyra Trikka, Rhiannon Watson, Sarah Watson, Claire Pearson, Maria Rivas, Gabi Seiliute, Sarah Singfield, Shona Stewart and Elissa Phillips
Our corporate partners Bank of England, Clifford Chance LLP, Schroders, EY and Standard Chartered
Thanks to
all our funders, donors, business supporters and project partners Funders
Tudor Trust
Anonymous
Wakefield & Tetley Trust
Aurum Charitable Trust Esmee Fairbairn Foundation ExPat Foundation London Borough of Tower Hamlets Prevention, Health and Wellbeing
Partners Anchor Trust Mulberry School
Business supporters
London Borough of Tower Hamlets Public Health
Allen&Overy, John Lewis, Google and other businesses supported us through in-kind donations
Lucas Tooth Trust
Bank of England
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Clifford Chance
People’s Postcode Trust
EY
The Haberdashers’ Company
Schroders
The Henry Smith Charity The National Lottery through Arts Council England
And thank you to everyone who gave a one-off or regular donation, or fundraised for us.
Our finances This summary is taken from Magic Me’s full, independently audited accounts. If you would like a copy, please contact Magic Me. During the year 2016/17 our income was £455,966 compared with £377,785 in 2015/16. Much of this rise came from an unrestricted surprise donation of £200,000, from an anonymous donor, in December 2016. In agreement with the donor, we decided to invest this windfall in Magic Me’s growth and development over the next three years, rather than our core activity. Trustees designated the donation to be spent on new partnerships and project models and implementing our digital strategy. Just under £16,000 was spent in this way in 2016/17. As you will see from the pie charts, the majority of our expenditure is on people – the staff, freelance artists and project managers who make our programme possible, and the materials and associated costs of the projects. Good governance is important to Magic Me. Very little of our income is year on year core funding and we work hard through the year to ensure that our income stream matches our plans for future expenditure. We hold back a certain amount of money – shown in designated funds - to ensure that we can cover unexpected expenses, without endangering the financial health of the organisation.
Expenditure
Income
Partners: Earned income: £2,000 £2,000
Fundraising: £19,888 Governance: £14,407
Rent and office: £33,942
Individual donors: £227,091
Trusts and Foundations: £165,304
National Lottery: £5,000
Corporates: £3,615
Tower Hamlets: £50,906
Project costs e.g. materials, venue hire: £16,134
Staff: £169,296 Artists and freelancers: £62,427
Unrestricted funds
Designated Funds
Restricted Funds
Total 2017
Total 2016
17,427
200,000
9639
227,066
41,535
312
616
Income Donations & Legacies Investment income Income from charitable activities Other income
312 35,025
191,825
226,850
1,683
55
1,738
1,295
201,519
455,966
377,785
-19,888
-18,103
201,519
436,078
359,682
238,493
264,892
275,905
11,991
4,915
16,906
25,540
11,991
243,408
281,798
301,445
1,089
14,407
14,929
Total incoming resources
54,447
200,000
Costs of generating grants and donations
-15,888
-4,000
Net income
38,559
196,000
Expenditure Intergenerational activities
26,399
Training and development activities Total charitable expenditure
26,399
Governance costs
13,318
Total expenditure*
55,605
15,991
244,497
316,093
334,477
Surplus for the year
-1,158
184,009
-42,978
139,873
43,308
Fund balances at 1 April 2016
14,868
30,734
103,352
148,954
105,647
Fund balances at 31 March 2017
13,710
214,743
60,374
288,827
148,955
*Includes Costs of generating grants and donations Note: In order to make the presentation of these accounts simpler to read some lines and figures do not match those in the Annual Accounts – this is where some lines have been amalgamated. The final totals remain the same.
Fundraise for us There are so many ways that people can fundraise for Magic Me and we will support you in your endeavours, sharing your efforts through our newsletter, website and social media channels. Fundraising is something that you can add once or twice a year to an existing activity – maybe a group you belong to, a choir or theatre group can do a collection, or you can hold a fundraising night as part of the social calendar. One of our trustees simply donated the money they would have spent on Christmas cards. If you are a regular seller at boot sales or on Etsy or Ebay you could consider donating a proportion of your takings to Magic Me. A fundraising goal can also be a way of challenging yourself to do something new. The need to reach your fundraising target will help you reach other goals too – running a marathon (or perhaps more gently a ‘couch to 5k’ programme), or going on a digital detox. Naomi Bullivant undertook the Three Peaks Challenge and raised over £1,000. Or you can simply make your money work harder. In our Big Give Christmas Challenge last year, 157 individuals gave a total of £4,000 which was doubled by Big Give supporters. With Gift Aid Magic Me received an amazing £9,000.
A fundraising goal can also be a way of challenging yourself to do something new.
Support us 1 in 2 elderly people and 1 in 4 children live in income deprivation in Tower Hamlets. It is London’s most deprived borough where people have a lower life expectancy than anywhere else in England With your help we can really make a difference here, and through sharing our learning extend that difference across the UK (and beyond). Friends of Magic Me currently donate between £5 and £200 per month. Join them and you can provide us with the ongoing funds we need to keep our projects running smoothly. We also welcome one off donations, legacies, in-kind support and sponsorship. We have a variety of volunteering opportunities for those who are able to donate their time, whether it is helping at one of our Cocktails in Care Homes parties or giving expertise or admin support. Sign up as a volunteer or make a donation at www.magicme.co.uk
“Social participation by older people can have a protective effect on health comparable to giving up smoking.” Creative Health Inquiry by APPG Arts Health Wellbeing
Registered Charity No. 328331 Thanks to Allen & Overy LLP for printing this report
18 Victoria Park Square London E2 9PF Tel: 020 3222 6064 info@magicme.co.uk www.magicme.co.uk