Oxford House in Bethnal Green Annual review 2012 2013 by Oh Bethnal Green

Oxford House Annual Review 2012-2013

Contents //

xxAbout us Page 2 xxGovernance Page 3 xxWelcome Page 4 xx129 not out Page 5 xxOur year Page 7 xxCommunity hub Page 7 xxVolunteering Page 8 xxCreative arts Page 9 xxExhibitions Page 13 xxSupporting OH Page 14 xxIf this building could talk Page 15 xxOur finances Page 16 xxThanks to Page 17 xxContact us Page 18

image ÂŠ: View from cul de sac of Derbyshire Street John Ryan

Supporting local communities

Oxford House was established in 1884 as one of the first “settlement houses” where students and graduates from its founding body (Keble College, Oxford University), undertook a period of residential volunteering to learn first-hand about the realities of urban poverty. At the same time they provided practical support to the local community through projects such as youth clubs, poor man’s lawyer and labour exchanges. Oxford House’s original charitable objects were to “provide a centre of religious, charitable, social and educational work among the poor of East London and carry out religious, charitable, social and educational work in London and elsewhere.”

While there has been no formal change in the charity objects, Oxford House interprets its purpose through a more contemporary mission statement: “To be the place where community & voluntary sector groups, arts organisations, and social businesses come together to work, learn, explore, create and celebrate.“ Oxford House meets this mission through three main areas of work: 1. providing a community hub which includes managing a variety of office and venue space for the local community, charities and social enterprises 2. providing a volunteering programme to tackle youth employability for 16 – 26 year olds 3. being a hub for the creative arts that includes an arts centre and activity programme using a theatre, dance studio and art gallery

About Us // Founded by Keble College, Oxford University in 1884, Oxford House in Bethnal Green (better known as Oxford House), is a thriving, independent, community and arts centre.

Governance // Oxford House is governed by company directors (also known as trustees) within the meaning of charity law. Jonathan Baume joined as our new Chair of the board in January 2013. John Ryan has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since June 2008 and leads the staff team. Oxford House believes it is important that our trustees reflect the diversity of the local community but also have the skills and expertise to govern the charity. We review our governance regularly and when appropriate recruit new trustees to provide skills and experience to the board.

image ÂŠ: Oxford House Mural. Louise Solloway 1991.

Supporting local communities

As OH approaches its 130th anniversary in 2014 the needs of the local and east end communities continue to be met through the work we do. Of course this has changed and adapted to the needs of the world in 2013. OH has continued the improvement of recent years as our finances strengthen and the scope of our work increases. Feedback from visitors and users of OH also suggests we continue to offer a service that people really value. We are looking forward to 2014 and are already planning further improvements to OH and the building. More details to follow. I should like to thank the staff, trustees, volunteers, funders, partners and the communities of east London who have contributed to making this a great year. Jonathan Baume Chair

Welcome // I am very pleased to have joined the board of Oxford House and to have become the Chair of the board. As a local resident for over 30 years and a graduate of Keble College it is a particular pleasure to join OH at this time.

Supporting local communities

129 Not Out // Time flies. Already the heady excitement of London 2012 is a fading but happy memory of Olympic successes and a celebration of community life. In 2012/13 OH continued in our aim to create a place that is relevant to the needs of community life now and in the future. It was another busy year with many events and activities that we can be proud of. Three events in particular represent the year for me: The visit of the class of ‘62 // A group of social work students reconvened at OH in May 2012 and remembered the start of their working lives as students living in the building. It was a timely reminder of the length of OHs relationship with the east end. An important reminder that great relationships are at the heart of what we do. Producing our first impact report // It is often easy to just get on with the work you do and not take the time to reflect. Of course we’re great, we all say! Working with our volunteers we took the plunge and completed our first impact report. Not easy to measure admittedly but the results suggest we are mostly doing the right thing. We are not perfect and recognise we need to get better at measuring how we make a difference. Glimpses: a portrait of Bethnal Green // Over 25 local residents undertook a six week ‘Photos from the Footpath’ course. Venturing out from Oxford House – cameras in hand – intent on taking a closer look at Bethnal Green. The sessions turned into two marvellous books and an exhibition, at the Oh! Gallery. These story telling studies of local residents and workers offered fresh insights into life in Bethnal Green. The project was a terrific example of combining local residents, great tutors and external funding. I think they captured the essence of E2, and the diverse and vibrant community living here. In the meantime why don’t you pop in and visit us in the near future and see for yourself? John Ryan CEO

image ©: Group of participants ‘Photos from the Footpath’. Natalie Clarke

Supporting local communities

Our Year // The trend towards being self-sufficient continued apace. We achieved this by using the building and diverse spaces with innovative uses that in turn generated income. This in turn reduced our reliance upon grant income. Community Hub //

accessible space xxProvided for many different community

xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx

uses whilst being open daily and for 51 weeks during the year Welcomed around 75,000 visitors during the year (an increase of 50% in last 2 years) 86% of room hire was at an affordable rate to community groups and charities Room occupancy levels were 55% higher overall than previous year Trend for regular users of OH continued and also one-off users increased Over £10,000 worth of venue hire to new and emerging groups without funds Diverse range of community activities After school clubs in English and Maths with First Class Learning 5 churches that make Sunday a spiritual day Ever popular Slimming World

for a range of xxCatered conferences and

xx xx xx xx xx xx

events The Enterprise CUBE conference in January 2103 who are a new social enterprise created to fill a gap between disadvantaged people and business Mexican Family Event in September 2012 to celebrate Mexico’s colourful independence Induction day for Madame Tussauds staff who ‘took over’ our theatre Welcomed new tenant organisations to OH including: The Bethnal Green Directory – a magazine with news and listings for Bethnal Green Pearl Advertising – who offer a comprehensive advertising/ marketing service

Assets CIC – a social xxShared enterprise helping landowners

and community enterprises to bring under managed land into productive community use Samson & Fox – a new collaborative and equitable design company

xx xx

estimated value of £56,574 @ £5.83 per hour) Secured further funding from LB Tower Hamlets to continue our youth volunteering project for 16 – 26 year olds Collaborating with London Youth and the Challenge who delivered The Challenge programme to 150 young people from Hackney and Tower Hamlets during the summer of 2012 Became a core partner in the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) and Nomura ‘Beyond Boundary Project’ that supports employment chances for young people in Bethnal Green

xx xx

Youth & Community work placement student Continued to develop volunteering partnerships with Queen Mary University and University of East London Provided much needed free space to young people from somewhereto_ an Olympic legacy project. Highlights included a rehearsal space for Hard Comedy, a sketch comedy group and filming of ‘Fairy Job Mother’, part of the Channel 4 Battlefront Campaign Our CEO, John Ryan, mentored a young person in the Young foundation’s Uprising programme Provided work placements for London Southbank University BA Digital Photography students

people volunteered xxYoung over 9,704 hours (at an

another xxHosted Goldsmith’s College

image ©: Alazne, Oh! Volunteer. Amelia Hallsworth

Volunteering //

Creative Arts // We continued to build on our reputation as a hub for the creative arts. The hub is a mix of office space (over half of our tenants work in the creative arts) and portfolio of mixed arts spaces (studio theatre, gallery and dance studio). It was a very encouraging year for our partnership projects which blossomed and included the Y & T Rep Company, Somali Arts Week, Big Dance and the University of East London. In December 2012 we hosted the launch event for the East London Academy of Music (ELAM), a free school for 16 – 19 with a passion for music. The event also showcased an OH favourite, the Real Deal, part of the Young & Talented School of Stage and Screen. The Real Deal made the national news during 2012 as winners of CBBC Sports Relief Does Glee Club. Towards the end of the year we were pleased that the Arts Council England agreed support for our 3 day festival – The Knowledge – to be held later in 2013.

image ©: Ingrid MacKinnon, Jreena Green and Rrenford Fagan in Green Candle Dance Company’s production for under 5s - No Fear! Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Supporting local communities

Boy – a new xxLaughing visions of Hamlet by

xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx

Perfect Shadow Tangled Yarn Faust by Dumb Wise Theatre Thou Shalt Not - An SEC & Agape Theatre Company Collaboration Edges of the wild by Debbie Warrener, Peter Birch and Louise Alexander The Irrepressibles Happy by Igor Memic & Municipal Theatre The Killing Class by Y and T Rep Company (p) This Is A Reconstruction by MayDay Theatre BUFF British Urban Film Festival Somali Week Festival 2012 (p) High Price to Pay by Outside Edge Theatre Company Cinderella Innit by Y&T Rep Company (p)

a Man twice a Child xxOnce by Outside Edge

xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx

Theatre Company Black Pudding by Wind-up Collective East London Academy of Music showcase City London Sinfonia & Tower Hamlets Arts Service (THAMES) Newham Young Offenders Team Summer Arts Programme Gandini Juggling Children’s performing arts Musical Theatre Showcase 2012 by Southern Arts Dance Moves Festival by Language of Dance No Fear! by Green Candle (p) Young and Talented School’s Real Deal won BBC TV Sport Relief Does Glee Club 2012

Theatre //

image ÂŠ: OH! Theatre. Black Pudding. Amelia Hallsworth

Supporting local communities

Exhibitions //

to Perception Art-est Art Group xxDoorways Basque Society xxLondon Materiality by Tracey Fahy xxIrreversible A Portrait of Bethnal Green a group show xxGlimpses: Opening Party for Photo Month East London International xxPhotography Festival Cities an international photography project xx1Day6 Montanhini Photography xxEdson Harper BBC journalist & Moqadhisho xxMary 100 years ago road captured in time – By Photo Friends from xxRoman Four Corners Postcard to the World – a Cooltans Art project xxADon’t live, live to be remembered: The Somali East xxEnd byjustSarah Ainslie & LB Tower Hamlets xx‘Open Show’ by The Other Side Gallery

It is also essential that we continued to develop the many ‘back office’ services that support all our work. These are essential to our future success. Particular successes included:

Report – researched and written by one of the xxImpact OH volunteers spending – on building maintenance and xxIncreased repairs to boilers condition survey completed – sets out repair needs xxStock and will inform our future plans media – Enormous improvements to all aspects xxSocial including web site, monthly e-newsletter, promotional film created by OH by volunteers and profile on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Flickr

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) xxDeveloped relationships with xxNomura xxEast London Business Alliance xxAllen & Overy LLP xxKeble College, University of Oxford xxBP

Supporting OH //

Supporting local communities

If this building could talk // Well, imagine if it could, what would it say? To find out what it might tell us and as we approach our 30th anniversary in 2013 OH has launched a heritage project called, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;If this building could talk.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; It has two aims: Firstly, to capture the stories of visitors and users of OH and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s importance supporting community life in east London; Secondly, to invest in the building by repairs to roof, windows and internal improvements to bring space back into use. The end result will be a building that continues to be a living heritage space dedicated to community life. A project team with architects, engineers, surveyors, project manager, heritage experts, social media and PR is working on a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund which will be submitted in autumn 2013. We have worked with a volunteer from Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives to catalogue our material and plans are underway to gift our archive during 2014.

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Overall the net deficit of expenditure over income for the year ended 31 March 2013 amounted to £7,801 (2012: surplus £28,328). Underlying this figure was an unrestricted surplus of £73,369.

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Our finances // Oxford House generated income for the year to 31 March 2013 of £400,442 (2012: £383,054). Expenditure increased from £354,726 in 2012 to £408,243 in the year ended 31 March 2013.

Supporting local communities

Our thanks to // OH Trustees

OH Partners

OH Solicitor Advisers

Jonathan Baume, Fergus Early, Linda Kaur, Josh Spero, Deborah Crow, Liane Hartley, Louise Alexander, Michael Judge, Rev. Kevin Scully & Cllr Sirajul Islam.

Green Candle Dance, Young & Talented, Walk East CIC, The Photo School, somewhereto_, Keble College, Anna Fiorentini, Language of Dance, Basque Society, City First, Lisa Gilbert Academy of Ballet, Slimming World, Self-Protection

Russell-Cooke LLP, 8 Bedford Row, London WC1R 4BX

Hafiz Jafferji, Paul O’ Brien & Rebecca Clarkson retired from the board during the year. OH Staff John Ryan, Baz Browne, Anisa Khanom, Enus Ali, Christine Lee, Lee Richefond, Annie Gao, Evelyn Maison, Refeia Begum, Agnes Asiedu & Jean Phillips OH Volunteers Eva Carmona del Rio, AndreeaIoana Urzica, Abu Sufian Ronee, Sadikur Rahman, Adina Goga, John Henry Owen, Rory Smith, Aminur Rahman, Alazne Ostolaza, Maite Otondo, Jo Bloor, Caroline Janlow, Jameel Mahboob Ali, Rashadul Islam, Hena Khanom, Blake CarterWhite, Abidur Malik, Teresa Paulo, Reyan Brown, Sergio Oton Legaz, Nazma Khatun, Asia Khatun, Iulia Davidescu, Nargis Begum, Lucy Mawdsley, Janine , elze, Anisa Alom, Maciah Dawson, Hena Begum, Marjina Begum, Majeda Begum, Ayesha Begum, Afsan Ali, Amelia, Hallsworth, Daynia Townsend, Alex Coles, Jessica Luc, Eva Carmona Del Rio, Jasdev Bhakar, Ahad Abdul, Hannah Jenney, Foyez Miah

OH Funders

xxxx xxxx xxxx xx xx

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation L.B. of Tower Hamlets Big Lottery Fund ELBA ‘Spitalfields Together’ The Goldsmiths’ Company Google Grants Church Urban Fund’s ‘Near Neighbours Programme’ European Union’s ‘Leonardo Da Vinci Program’

OH Banking Advisers NatWest Bank Plc, Gredley House, 1/11 Broadway, Stratford, London, E15 4BQ Charity Bank Limited, 194 High Street, Tonbridge TN9 1BE OH Auditor Advisers Haysmacintyre, Fairfax House, 15 Fulwood Place, London WC1V 6AY

OH Heritage Project Advisers Tower Hamlets Community Housing, Ingleton Wood LLP, Potter Raper Partnership, Lexia Media & A Different Drum CIC, Green Candle Dance OH Annual Report Designed by Eudonni Moricom OH Annual Report Printed by Nomura International plc

18 CEO

John Ryan

Phone

0207 739 9001

info@oxfordhouse.org.uk

Address

Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green, London, E2 6HG

Website

oxfordhouse.org.uk

Facebook

facebook.com/pages/Oxford-House

Twitter

twitter.com/oxhse

pinterest.com/oxfordhouse/

You Tube

youtube.com/oxfordhousebg

image ÂŠ: View from cul de sac of Derbyshire Street John Ryan