ANNUAL REVIEW 2017
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Photo credit: Patrick Boland
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CONTENTS About us................................................................................................ 4 The Chair’s Report................................................................................. 7 The Artistic Report................................................................................ 8 Changing face of homelessness in Australia......................................10 Our Strategic Goals..............................................................................12 Impact........................................................................................14 Creativity....................................................................................18 Growth.......................................................................................22 Sustainability.............................................................................26
Our team, partners and collaborators..................................................30 Our supporters.....................................................................................32 TABLES/DIAGRAMS Our community: access and support needs...................................... 11 Theory of Change infographic........................................................... 17 Program staff – directors, facilitators and support artists............... 20 Our community: participant profile................................................... 25 Financial outcomes........................................................................... 28
Cover photo: Patrick Boland
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ABOUT US Milk Crate Theatre uses performing arts to change the story of homelessness. We provide creative opportunities for participants to build confidence, skills and social connections to help them make positive changes in their lives. Our programs are run for, with and by members of the community that have a lived experience of homelessness and the complex issues associated including people with mental health, financial, emotional and physical support needs, addiction, trauma, domestic violence and people who are recently arrived in Australia. Milk Crate Theatres works within a Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) model, meaning our work is community centred and collaborative. Professional practicing artists facilitate programs and projects where participants are encouraged to contribute ideas, share stories, and engage in creative expression within a safe and supported environment. By bringing communities together and working from a strengths-based approach, we have a positive impact on participant wellbeing.
OUR CORE PRINCIPLES We are committed to: • Using the arts as a tool to help participants find pathways to recovery and active social engagement. • Providing safe and accessible opportunities for participants to engage with each other and our programs. • Creating an environment where regard is taken for the experiences, feelings and rights of others. • Using a range of creative practices in our work. • Creating performances that engage and challenge audiences. • Working in collaboration with partners (welfare, arts and funding) to further reach and impact. • Above all, putting the wellbeing of our participants at the heart of everything we do.
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Photo credit: Lisa Walton
THE
Photo credit: Chrissie Ianssen
CHAIR’S REPORT
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2017 was a successful year for Milk Crate Theatre as it delivered upon its four strategic goals: impact, growth, creativity and sustainability. Whilst the heart of Milk Crate Theatre has remained unchanged over the nearly 20 years since it emerged as a project of Darlinghurst Theatre Company, the company has evolved into a confident service provider with a strong reputation in both the welfare and arts sectors. Our strong year was capped by the graduation of the first cohort of participants in Headway, our professional development program. Upon graduation, each participant received TAFE accreditation. We witnessed, in a very tangible way, Milk Crate Theatre realising its purpose of helping participants build confidence, skills and social connection to make positive changes in their lives. During the year we delivered an unprecedented number of programs for more participants. We also delivered several collaborations with community and welfare organisations and other service providers. These allowed us to leverage our resources for increased impact at reduced cost, or on a cost-share basis. I am pleased that Milk Crate Theatre delivered a budget surplus for 2017. As our generous multi-year core program funding from the Australia Council for the Arts ends this year, we will look to other sources of funding, including project funding to deliver beyond 2018. Without new support, we will need to adapt the way we deliver some services and collaborate to further reduce our costs base. As always, we remain very grateful to the many supporters, funders, partners and volunteers, as well as to our CEO, Judith Bowtell, and her terrific and dedicated management team. Each of these people plays an important part in making Milk Crate Theatre such a vibrant, important company. Thank you also to members of our Artistic Advisory Council and my fellow directors for your valued and generous advice to the company. 2018 will be another busy year for Milk Crate Theatre, and we would again love to have you involved.
MICHAEL SIRMAI Chair
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2017 was a year of rejuvenation and renewed clarity. It was also an extremely busy year! A small team with big ambition, the Milk Crate Theatre staff activated our collaborative energy to provide a program that delivered beautifully on community reach and artistry. A community project in Northern Sydney with Link Housing residents; a political project called Turning Towers with residents of Waterloo, and extension of this project My Future Waterloo, working with young people at Our Lady of Mt Carmel school; a seminar for schools about our 2012 landmark play Fearless; a new interactive theatre show about depression That’s The Spirit presented at Riverside Theatres; the launch of a new youth program for girls at the Willmot Community Hub; three new tailored workshop programs for women; the launch of Headway, a specifically tailored skills development program for Milk Crate Theatre participants; and all of this in addition to our regular workshop hubs held at the Ozanam Learning Centre Woolloomooloo and at the Parramatta Mission. It was a mighty year, upheld by a freshly executed Strategic Plan that firmly placed the wellbeing of our participants, artists, and staff at the heart of what we do. Fully embracing the tenets of Community Arts and Cultural Development best practice, our team reinvigorated our approaches to provide stability for our participants, recruited an array of new professional practising artists to work with us, and provided focused training and support for those artists. Perhaps the most exciting endeavour for me personally, was facilitating the Headway Program. The 14 weeks I spent with members of the Milk Crate Theatre community wishing to take their creative practice to the next level, was exciting beyond measure! Learning about self-producing, decision-making, self-care and autonomy gave participants the confidence to put down on paper a dream for a performance work. Furthermore, discussing accessible practice, critical reflection and facilitating, offered new insights into how these Headway artists want to work – what kind of artists they wish to be. And for me, this is such an integral element of CACD practice – committing the time and space for someone to not only decide what they want to do, but to develop the confidence to do it, is something that we hope to integrate into all our programming going forward. Participants, artists, staff, Board members, Artistic Advisory Council, volunteers, funding bodies, community service providers, and friends: every time you took part in a workshop, or facilitated a program, or attended a show, or lent us your support, or offered us a space to work in, or helped us formulate our policies, ethical frameworks and methodologies – you were helping us to strengthen. Milk Crate Theatre is a place where you can find your artistry, express yourself freely and safely, and find your way to contribute, no matter what your role. So thank you. To all of you! And congratulations. We share with you here our collective achievements for 2017.
MARGOT POLITIS Artistic Director
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Photo credit: Lisa Walton
THE
ARTISTIC REPORT
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Changing face of
HOMELESSNESS in Australia
Homelessness is not just “house-less-ness.” Experiencing homelessness means not having stable or secure housing, or a place to call home. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that 116,000 people were homeless on census night in 2016, representing 50 homeless people per 10,000. This includes those sleeping on the streets, in cars, at crisis centres and in overcrowded accommodation. This is an increase of 14 per cent from last census in 2011. And in our local community the situation is even worse, with Sydney’s homeless population having increased more than three times faster than the national rate. Homelessness jumped by 48 per cent in Sydney in the five years to 2016, an increase overwhelmingly driven by domestic violence and rising housing costs. Since Milk Crate Theatre began working in this community in 2000, the profile of people experiencing homelessness and at risk has changed:
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• More older Australians are experiencing homelessness than ever before. There has been a 28% increase in the number of elderly people who have nowhere to live. • There has been a 20% increase in the number of people who are sleeping rough. • Increased housing costs have meant 613,000 people have fallen below the poverty line, almost 229,000 of whom are children. • Housing prices are increasing as wages have been falling. National property prices have increased by 80% in the last 10 years while median household incomes rose by 40%. • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness. • There was a 22% increase in demand for homelessness services nationwide between 2011 and 2016.1
Source: Australian Homelessness Monitor, commissioned by Melbourne-based community organisation Launch Housing, May 2018
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OUR COMMUNITY The Milk Crate Theatre community reflects the changing face of homelessness in Australia, the diversity of lived experiences, and the range of access and support needs unique to our community.
In 2017, Milk Crate Theatre’s participants reported the following: • 44% were living in government supported housing • 36% were in private market accommodation • 19% were living in crisis housing, boarding houses or sleeping rough Homelessness is often a result of complex issues which can include: • chronic shortage of affordable and available rental housing • domestic and family violence • intergenerational poverty • financial crisis • long term unemployment • economic and social exclusion • severe and persistent mental illness and psychological distress • exiting state care • exiting prison • severe overcrowding/housing crisis
In 2017, our regular participants disclosed the following support needs: • 91% identify as having a disability or mental health concerns • 50% identify as having a physical disability • 34% identify as being a survivor of trauma • 28% identify as having a neurological or learning disability • 9% identify as experiencing problems with alcohol and other drugs Overall, 47% of Milk Crate Theatre’s participants identify as having complex support needs, being defined as having three or more co-occurring lived experiences or issues. 11
OUR STRATEGIC GOALS IMPACT GROWTH CREATIVITY SUSTAINABILITY
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Photo credit: Lisa Walton
IMPACT IMPACT: Build confidence, skills and social connections through performing art workshops and performances.
OUTCOMES Throughout the year, Milk Crate Theatre participants reported that: • 93% felt more confident and felt better able to connect socially with their peers, • 67% had developed new performance-based and life skills, including teamwork, • 58% of participants said that the workshops have supported them to make changes in their lives, such as: » learning not to rush things, » being in the present moment, » interacting with the community; » believing in oneself. • Other feedback included: » more structure in individuals’ lives, demonstrated by their increased awareness for time and desire to set and complete new goals, » speaking up and being more confident about their ideas, » providing a creative distraction during a difficult period in their life, » an increase in creativity after the program, such as a new interest in singing and playing guitar; • 100% of the participants would recommend the workshops to others.2
In all of Milk Crate Theatre’s work, participant wellbeing comes first. In 2017, we partnered with the Black Dog Institute to assess our impact on participant wellbeing. Researcher Lachlan Dudley, working under the supervision of Professor Katherine Boydell, undertook 52 hours of participant observation during the development and post-production stages of Milk Crate Theatre’s performance, That’s The Spirt.
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Based on participants who completed evaluation surveys throughout the workshops
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The researchers found that participants had gained substantial benefits from their involvement:
SOCIAL CONNECTION
Participants noted a marked sense of increased socialisation and highly valued the ability to interact and connect with others working on the project
EMPOWERMENT
Participants felt greatly empowered by the process of discussion and acting out their experiences around depression. This led to a sense of control and ownership.
CATHARTIC
Participants enjoyed being able to discuss one another’s experiences of depression and provided support and encouragement for each other.
SKILL ACQUISITION
Staff taught participants skills during the development of That’s the Spirit that they used in their own lives. These were highly beneficial in dealing with personal issues.
CHALLENGE
Being given the chance to participate in a serious production and to ‘rise to the occasion’ engendered a sense of self-worth and accomplishment.
The finding of Black Dog informed the development of our Theory of Change to identify outcome measures for our projects and measures of long-term impact. This project was undertaken by social research company The Incus Group – who consulted with our artists, participants and staff to develop our new evaluation framework – see page 17.
D A E H A G N I K O LO
luation review its eva ill w e tr a e h T rate rograms In 2018, Milk C ta across all p a d re tu p a c nd will framework, a nge. Theory of Cha in line with its rs at ith researche w rk o w to e u itute ontin Black Dog Inst e We will also c th d n a y it rs ey Unive easures, Western Sydn our impact m d n e xt e d n a ople. ne with young pe to further refi g in rk o w to regard including with
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Photo credit: Patrick Boland
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MILK CRATE THEATRE’S THEORY OF CHANGE WHO WE ARE Milk Crate Theatre uses performing arts to change the story of homelessness. We provide creative opportunities for participants to build confidence, skills and social connections to help make positive life changes. Our programs are run for, with and by members of the community that have a lived experience of homelessness and the complex associated issues.
ACTIVITIES
Workshops
Creative Development
Performances
Multi-artform Projects
Films
OUTCOMES Inclusive, respectful and supportive space
Opportunity for creativity ▼
▼
Taking creative risks Willing to work together Seeing possibilities for change
Being supported Feeling valued and heard Developing a sense of pride in self
New skills for self-expression
Something enjoyable and fun
▼
▼
Trying new ways Increasing focus and concentration Changing aspirations and setting goals
Being productive Making new friends Seeing new opportunities for development
IMPACT CONFIDENCE
Increased confidence Sense of self worth Reduced anxiety
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
Improved interpersonal skills Social connections
SKILLS Sense of empowerment Increased aspirations Improved decision-making
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CREATIVITY CREATIVITY: Create new work using Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) best practice.
CREATIVE WORKSHOP HUBS In 2017 Milk Crate Theatre formed two creative community hubs: one in the Sydney CBD and the other in Western Sydney, providing four 10 week workshops through the year in each hub. This was done to be more responsive, more available and provide a more consistent presence for our community and participants. Each round of workshops saw participants create, collaborate, perform and challenge their skills and talents. There were showings of workshop outcomes throughout the year, culminating in the End of Year Party at Redfern Town Hall.
MENTAL HEALTH TRILOGY PART 2: THAT’S THE SPIRIT Our Forum Theatre work on the lived experience of depression, That’s The Spirit, was developed by a group of ten participants, some of whom were new to Milk Crate Theatre or had never taken part in a creative development process before. Two performances for our community audience were followed by two school shows. Participants also performed an excerpt of That’s The Spirit at the Performing Arts Wellbeing Summit at the Sydney Opera House. Students at the school shows reported an overall increase of knowledge about homelessness, housing related issues, and mental health. The teachers highlighted the interactions with the audience as particularly powerful in helping students understand people affected by depression. One student specified the realistic portrayal of mental health while giving students an option of changing things for the better. Participants received a Certificate of Attainment from TAFE NSW for their participation in the performance.
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HEADWAY PROGRAM: STAGE 1 We launched a new pilot program called Headway, designed as a first-stage bridging program allowing participants to learn how to transition from performer to “maker”, from participant to artistic facilitator. The pilot was aimed at participants who had been involved in Milk Crate Theatre programs for several years and were ready to pursue a new challenge. These are people who may not have had typical or traditional pathways to study, due to issues relating to age, mental health, disability, and/or homelessness. At the feedback focus group, the nine participants reported that they: • had a clearer vision of their development as an artist, • had increased confidence, up to the ability to facilitate exercises, • felt an increase in social connection, especially from a communal inspiration process; • felt that it helped put them on the right track for developing creative projects in their lives. All spoke highly of program lead Margot Politis and support artist Paul Walker. We partnered with TAFE NSW and participants received a Statement of Attainment for their involvement in Headway.
D A E H A G N I K O LO
r our next evelopment fo d ve ti a re c in ersive ill beg lti-artform imm u m In 2018, we w is h T r. e atural Ord part of major work: N ugust 2019 as A in d te n se pre work, will be Week. ss e Homelessn reative nue with its c ti n o c ill w e tr ea orkshops Milk Crate Th CBD. These w y e n yd S e th ral b in films for Natu rt community hu o sh f o g n ki y hub d on ma estern Sydne W e th will be focuse m o fr s r resource ople with Order. Howeve s for young pe m ra g ro p w e d to n will be directe . homelessness f experience o ntinue to duates will co ra G y a w d a e be ur H pilot. They will e A number of o th f o 2 e g ta gram, S mentors to Headway Pro ssional artist fe ro p g in c ti c ra e work paired with p of performanc s e c ie p w e n own develop their 18. resented in 20 p e b ill w h ic wh
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PROGRAM STAFF DIRECTORS, FACILITATORS AND SUPPORT ARTISTS Aslam Abdus-samad
Support artist, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Kay Armstrong
Director, That’s The Spirit
Lead facilitator, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Lead facilitator, Domestic Violence Service Management Project
Sean Barker Performer, Fearless HSC Seminar Jack Ballhausen
Lead facilitator, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Waterloo Project
Stephanie Brown Performer, Fearless HSC Seminar Suzanne Dunne
Support artist, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Sarah Emery
Lead facilitator, Sydney Workshop Hub
Lead facilitator, Women and Girls Emergency Centre Project
Alicia Gonzalez
Lead facilitator, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Support artist, Domestic Violence Service Management Project
Laura Hart
Support artist, Bonnie Support Services
Christa Hughes Performer, Fearless HSC Seminar Lex Marinos OAM
Lead facilitator, Sydney Workshop Hub
Jacqueline Marriot
Support artist, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Kevin Ng
Lead facilitator, Willmot Youth Project
Support artist, Sydney Workshop Hub
Support artist, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Technical support, That’s The Spirit
Grace Partridge
Support artist, Women and Girl's Emergency Centre
Goldele Rayment Director, Turning Towers Graeme Rhodes
Director/lead facilitator, Link Housing Project
Lead facilitator, Sydney Workshop Hub
Lauren Scott-Young
Support artist, Willmot Youth Project
Jonnie Swift
Support artist, Turning Towers
Support artist, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Daryl Wallis
Musicial Director, Fearless
Paul Walker
Support artist, Headway Program
Lucy Watson
Support artist, Sydney Workshop Hub
Alice Williams
Lead facilitator, Parramatta Workshop Hub
Georgina Wood
Support artist, Link Housing Project
Christie Woodhouse
Documentation, Link Housing Project. Lead facilitator, Ability Links
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In total Milk Crate Theatre employed 24 professional and emerging artists in 2017, across 33 contract roles. We also engaged professional photographers and video artists to document our work, including producing commissioned pieces for fee for service clients.
Photo credit: Margot Politis
In October 2017, Milk Crate Theatre conducted an Expression of Interest recruitment process for professional artists and emerging artists to be considered for future projects.  
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GROWTH GROWTH: Deliver our programs to as many participants as possible In 2017, we provided 175 opportunities for participants and over 400 hours of workshops, creative development, performance and other contact points for our participants, setting a new benchmark for Milk Crate Theatre. This included delivering: • two new creative development opportunities, open for all participants, • two new works (Turning Towers and That’s The Spirit) with four community shows and two school shows, • 14 workshop rounds of 8 to 10 weeks each, plus showings at end of each round, • 14-week advanced Headway program, • a capsule performance of That’s The Spirit at Sydney Opera House, • three workshop days and seven performances partnering with Tier 1 community housing provider, Link Housing, • end of Year performance opportunity for participants and supporters; • nine Edge of our Seat opportunities, to see live performance with professional theatre companies.
NEW PROGRAMS: WOMEN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Women and young people are increasingly at risk of experiencing homelessness, so we focused on developing new programs to engage these participants. • We established a youth program at the Wilmot Community Hub (Blacktown), running workshops in movement, games, theatre and improvisation for girls aged 10-14. • We established women’s only workshops partnering with Bonnie Women Services, Women's and Girl’s Emergency Centre (Redfern) and Domestic Violence Service Management (Sydney).
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WATERLOO HOUSING ESTATE – REDEVELOPMENT In 2015 the NSW Government announced the redevelopment of 18 hectares of land in Waterloo. Over 4,500 public housing tenants will be impacted by the redevelopment. In response, Milk Crate Theatre partnered with Counterpoint Community Services in 2017 to develop workshops, projects and performances to give residents a voice and a platform to raise their concerns.
Turning Towers A “pop up” Forum Theatre work with members of the Waterloo Housing Estate community. The collaboration was a successful form of community engagement and expression, especially as the performance created a Forum where decision makers in the audience were responding to an agenda set by the community – not the other way around.
Our Future Waterloo Over two very spirited performances, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary’s sixth grade class raised their voices to answer one pressing the question – what does our future look like? Working with Milk Crate Theatre and the Sydney Story Factory, the class worked over eight weeks to develop a striking performance about their visions for the future. The performance was an opportunity for Counterpoint Community Services to engage with the parents of students about the Waterloo redevelopment.
WORK AND DEVELOPMENT ORDERS Milk Crate Theatre became an approved Work and Development Orders (WDO) organisation in 2017, our participants can now reduce their fines with Recovery NSW by participating in our workshops as unpaid work. In 2017 we had four new participants take part in the program, earning credits worth over $4,500 towards unpaid fines. This process is supported by Milk Crate Theatre’s Social Worker.
D A E H A G N I K O O L
usiness ill develop a b w e tr a e h T te ra n-based In 2018, Milk C or commissio e ic rv se r fo r a fee es. This plan to delive munity servic m o c to m ra g ith lived workshop pro articipants w p re o m h c a re r barriers to will allow us to ness and othe ss le this e m o h f o w us to grow llo a o experience ls a ill w ipation. It creative partic nue. source of reve
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Photo credit: Carla Orsatti
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OUR COMMUNITY: PARTICIPANT PROFILE Numbers
183 Total new participants:......................................................... 63 Total participants in inner Sydney:..................................... 110 Total participants in Western Sydney:.............................. 61 Total participants in the overall program:.........................
By Activity
104 Creative developments:....................................................... 25 Performances:....................................................................... 15 Young people’s program:..................................................... 19 Women’s program:................................................................ 11 Headway program:............................................................... 9 Creative workshops:.............................................................
Characteristics*
58%
42% Women, less than 1%
Gender:................................................................................... Men, undisclosed
53 years old; 45% are over 55 years old Cultural background:............................................................ 31% spoke language other than English Access and support needs:................................................ 78% identify as a person with a disability Mental health support:......................................................... 31% disclosed having current case worker/ Average age:..........................................................................
mental health support
37%
Welfare support:................................................................... disclosed receiving Centrelink payments (majority Disability Support Pension or NewStart Allowance) (*Excludes participants in programs for women and young people)
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SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABILITY: Ensure a sustainable business model In 2017, Judith Bowtell was appointed as CEO. Judith brings over 25 years of expertise in arts management, strategy and business development to the role. The new structure for the company was confirmed, reducing core roles from 8 to 5 full and part-time roles, including our social worker. This core team focused on streamlining of functions to reduce transaction time and costs, improving clarity in communications (including a new website) and being accessible to our diverse communities. We improved our grant-seeking and fundraising processes, establishing relationships with seven new funding partners during the year.
WORKSHOP FEES AND COMMISSIONS Milk Crate Theatre actively re-engaged with its strategy to diversify its funding portfolio and raise funds through commissions and fee for service workshops, including: • delivery of HSC Seminar based on our 2012 major work Fearless, • development and presentation of short Forum Theatre work for Link Housing, around issues of public housing and community housing management, • workshops for women’s services: Bonnie Support Services, Women's and Girl’s Emergency Centre and Domestic Violence Service Management. The work for Domestic Violence Service Management included making a series of short films to support its new branding and communications strategy; • other adhoc fee for service (e.g. leading workshops) for community partners. We secured $107,000 in project fees this year, for projects to be delivered in 2017-2018.
D A E H A G N I K O O L
our plan to market ss ne si bu a p lo munity deve : including: Com rs In 2018, we will ne rt pa ity un vices; w comm vices; Youth Ser er S workshops to ne ng si ou H t rs; Specialis and Housing Provide s; Mental Health ce vi er S rt po unity nce Sup versified comm di r Domestic Viole he ot d an s rt Service Disability Suppo services. r regions of service the oute to ty ci pa ca r ou We will review ney LGAs. g Western Syd in ud cl Sydney, in entor ty to train and m ci pa ca r ou te alua tions in We will also ev d arts organisa an ts tis ar ng gi practice. emer ths based CACD ng established and re st in y, ne inner Syd regions outside
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Photo credit: Lisa Walton
FINANCIAL RESULTS
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REVENUE
2017 % 2016 %
Government Grants $ 337,045 60% Private Giving $ 157,716 28% Performance and Workshop Fees $ 56,900 10% Interest $ 10,611 2% Royalties $ 1,014 0% Reimbursements
$ 300,333 70% $ 93,494 22% $ 15,950 4% $ 6,384 1% $ 1,190 0% $ 9,184 2%
Total $ 563,286 $ 426,535 Overall revenue increased by 32%
MILK CRATE THEATRE REVENUE 2017 n Government Grants n Private Giving n Performance and Workshop Fees n Interest Royalties
EXPENDITURE
2017 % 2016 %
Salaries and on costs (incl artists fees ) Administration (incl insurances, IT, rent etc) Marketing and promotion Production costs
$ 400,637 84% $ 48,461 10% $ 23,095 5% $ 3,489 1%
$ $ $ $
565,524 56,026 12,677 17,788
Total Overall expenditure decreased by 27%
$ 475,682
$ 652,015
87% 9% 2% 3%
n Salaries and on costs (incl artists fees ) n Administration (incl rent ) n Marketing and promotion n Production costs
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Milk Crate Theatre's Annual Financial Report is available on request.
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Photo credit: Carla Orsetta
MILK CRATE THEATRE EXPENDITURE 2017
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THE MILK CRATE BOARD Michael Sirmai (Chair)
Lauren O’Shaughnessy (joined the board in July 2017)
Richard Levine (Treasurer)
Lenore Robertson
Digby Hughes (joined the board January 2018)
Victoria Turner
Andrew McCarthy (resigned from the board in May 2017)
Rachel Lim (Company Secretary)
STAFF Judith Bowtell CEO
Laura Hurstfield Social Worker
Margot Politis Associate Director
Dale Hollingsworth (Art and Business) Financial Consultant
Lisa Walton Creative Producer
Carolyn Grant (Avviso Public Relations) Media/PR Consultant
Christie Woodhouse Production Assistant
Grant Moxon IT System Administrator
ARTISTIC ADVISORY COUNCIL Lenore Robertson (Chair)
Donna Abela
Dr. Jonathan Bollen
Charmian Gradwell
Lex Marinos OAM
Graeme Rhodes
Kristina Tito
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THEATRE TEAM PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS Partnerships with the community continue to be at the heart of Milk Crate Theatre and in 2017 we both continued existing relationships and developed new ones.
COMMUNITY PARTNERS Milk Crate Theatre works across the city, inner west, eastern suburbs and western Sydney. We engage our participants through the support of a network of community services dedicated to delivering services to those who have experienced homelessness or social disadvantage: Ability Links (St Vincent de Paul Society)
Link Housing
Bonnie Support Services
Liverpool Women’s Resource Centre
Counterpoint Community Services
Parramatta Mission
Domestic Violence Service Management NSW
Redfern Community Centre
Homelessness NSW
St Vincent de Paul Society’s Ozanam Learning Centre
Jesuit Social Services
Theatre Network NSW
King George V Recreation Centre
Women’s and Girl’s Emergency Centre
ARTS PARTNERS The company is committed to artistic excellence and appreciate that this comes through strong creative partnerships: Currency Press
Seymour Centre
Darlinghurst Theatre Company
Shopfront Arts Co-op
Parramatta Riverside Theatres
The Sydney Story Factory
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EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PARTNERS Milk Crate Theatre partners with leading educational and research institutions to offer opportunities to participants and to develop and disseminate new research projects: Black Dog Institute
University of New South Wales
TAFE NSW
Western Sydney University
SPECIAL THANKS Ixi Avila
Kim Lewis
Belinda Bentley
Caitlin Lewis
Patrick Boland
Amy Matthews
Prof. Kathrine Boydell
Grant Moxom
Amanda Buckland
Meg Mumford
Lachlan Dudley
Carla Orsatti
Bronwyn Edinger
Kira Osbourne
Virginia Gillian
Amy Peyton
Michael Gonski
Paul Smith
Ali Goss
Kim Spinks
Tony Grierson
Glenn Terry
Virginia Hyam
Joseph Watson
Shivchand Jhinku
Anthea Williams
Laura Kelly
Suzy Wrong
Jane Kreis
Bill Yan
PRO BONO (AND LOW-BONO) SUPPORT Aegeus Consulting
Herbert Smith Freehills
Archibald Williams
Oz Harvest
Avviso Public Relations
Steven J. Miller – Auditors
City of Sydney - Accommodation and Venue
Westpac
EDGE OF YOUR SEAT SUPPORTERS Edge of Your Seat are outings to cultural events including plays, art exhibitions, industry talks and forums. Bell Shakespeare
Griffin Theatre Company
Belvoir Street Theatre
Sydney Film Festival
Darlinghurst Theatre Company
Sydney Opera House
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Photo credit: Patrick Boland
OUR SUPPORTERS GOVERNMENT
FOUNDATIONS
FRIENDS OF MILK CRATE THEATRE Frances Bowtell
Grant Rennie
Donna Harpham
Lenore Robertson
Eugenia Langley
Rose Bay Rotary
Richard Levine
Michael Sirmai
Rachel Lim
Victoria Turner
Jared Merino
Anon x 2
Lauren O’Shaughnessy
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CONTACT US P: (02) 9698 7133 E: mail@milkcratetheatre.com W: www.milkcratetheatre.com A: Alexandria Town Hall, 73 Garden Street, Alexandria NSW 2015 PO Box 27, Alexandria NSW 2015
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY Milk Crate Theatre acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation as the traditional custodians of the lands on which our company is located and where we live, work and create. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present, and to our shared future.
ACCESSIBILITY We are committed to making our programs accessible to our community and wherever possible we will make arrangements to meet your access requirements. Please contact us for more information to let us know your access needs.
ASSISTANCE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY Information can be provided in alternative formats upon request (i.e. large print and electronic). To contact the National Relay Service, call: Type and Read, Type and Listen, or Speak and Read: 133 677. speak and Listen (speech to speech relay): 1300 555 727. For interpreting assistance in languages other than English, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service, TIS National: 131 450 and indicate which language you wish to use.
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