Overall GiG Score: 21 ?
Finance Score: 4
Governance Score: 6
Support Score: 11
  • Good reserves management: +3
  • Multiple Deficits: -2
  • Fundraising costs low: +3
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Grant maker support: +11

SOFT TOUCH ARTS LIMITED 

We provide opportunities for young people whose life circumstances put them at a disadvantage to engage in creative projects to support their personal development & achievement of their ambitions: running a varied programme of arts, music & cooking activities, from group sessions to one to one support & supporting community capacity building. We also work with adult prisoners and asylum seekers.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • Reserves management has been consistently within official guidelines
  • Spending has increased over the last 3 years relative to the previous period
  • Fundraising costs are low relative to funds raised
  • A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers including the Government
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • One or more trustees receive payments or benefits from the charity for providing services to the charity

Financial issues to consider:

  • On several occasions in recent years income has been less than spending
Established: 12 years
(37 years as a company)

www.soft-touch.org.uk

info@soft-touch.org.uk

01162552592

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseFacebookX
UN SDGs
?

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/03/23£602£705£-104£44£1,410£4457.6281
31/03/22£701£595£106£45£1,514£4118.3262
31/03/21£691£519£171£32£1,407£3417.9251
31/03/20£525£600£-76£32£1,236£1593.22621
31/03/19£673£563£109£33£1,312£1743.72238
31/03/18£513£538£-25£31£1,203£1683.7210
31/03/17£524£576£-52£30£1,228£1443210
31/03/16£734£529£205£31£1,280£1503.4290
31/03/15£1,229£486£743£116£1,075£1012.5160
31/03/14£532£451£81£114£332£1173.1140
31/03/13£470£403£67£0£0£0n/a00

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 7.6%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 6.3%
Highest pay band: Less than £60,000
Liabilities/Assets: 11%
Liabilities/Income: 30%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 32%
Reserves/Spending: 7.6 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 8 months
Quick Ratio: 5
Asset Split ?
What it does
  • Arts/Culture/Heritage/Science
  • Disability
  • Economic/Community Development/Employment
  • Education/Training
  • General Charitable Purposes
  • Recreation
  • The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
Who works here?
  • 28 employees
  • 1 volunteer
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People
  • Other Defined Groups
  • People Of A Particular Ethnic Or Racial Origin
  • People With Disabilities
How it operates
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • Leicester City, Leicestershire,

Who's supporting them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following significant donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years
DCMS£225,637
National Lottery Heritage Fund£153,629
Youth Music£129,460
BBC Children in Need£66,815
Garfield Weston Foundation£30,000
National Lottery Community Fund£29,822
Rank Foundation£10,000
Sport England£9,500
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
National Lottery Community Fund - MH - Soft Touch: Right Track
£9,990 28/07/2023
This funding will be used to provide inspiring and diversionary activities for young people engaging in; or at risk of engaging in; anti-social behaviour in Leicester. The project aims to positively ....more
Youth Music - Step-Up
£29,460 19/06/2023
Step-Up
Youth Music - Soft Touch Studios
£100,000 18/02/2022
Soft Touch Studios
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Grant to Soft Touch Arts Ltd
£153,629 25/11/2021
Punk: Rage & Revolution
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award
£30,000 17/09/2021
Looking Back : Moving Forward
Sport England - TGC CF Soft Touch Arts
£9,500 26/05/2021
11
This project will deliver yoga, dance and exercise and fitness sessions to women and girls aged 16+.
National Lottery Community Fund - gr-EAT 3
£9,882 07/05/2021
The funding will be used to deliver a programme providing catering skills and work experience in their café to young people from marginalised communities including asylum seekers refugees people ....more
BBC Children in Need - Grant to Soft Touch Arts Ltd
£63,808 30/07/2020
Covid19 - This grant will fund an arts based employability programme providing work experience and mentoring for disengaged young people who are impacted by Covid-19. They will gain life skills, ....more
Rank Foundation - Resilience Fund Soft Touch Arts 2020
£10,000 30/06/2020
To support core costs
BBC Children in Need - Grant to Soft Touch Arts Ltd
£3,007 17/06/2020
6
COVID19 - This project will run online multi arts actvities for children and young people that are experiencing isolatation during Covid-19. This project will help to support childrens mental ....more
DCMS - VSCE CMC Fund
£2,988 21/05/2020
NET, Comic Relief and Children in Need will use this funding to provide: increased support to vulnerable people and hidden groups, thus reducing the burden on public services; reach local grassroots ....more
DCMS - NPO 2018-2022
£90,139 01/04/2020
The wider aim of the scheme is: We are the national development agency for creativity and culture. By 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given ....more
DCMS - Soft Touch Arts ReStart
£44,000 01/04/2020
To support Arts and Culture throughout England
National Lottery Community Fund - gr-EAT 2
£9,950 23/03/2020
11
This funding will be used to deliver cooking and wellbeing workshop sessions for asylum seekers. The project aims to improve mental wellbeing and isolation.
DCMS - NPO 2018-2022
£88,510 01/04/2019
£1.6bn invested in the key arts and culture infrastrucure organisations in England for a 4 year period
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award
£30,000 07/03/2019
Fit for the Future
DCMS - Tampon Tax Community Fund
£10,000 11/02/2019
NoteAble Girls will deliver the follow outcomes, all of which interact with, and recinforce each other: 1. Strengthen young peoples confidence enabling young people to express themselves ....more
Co-Op Foundation - Co-design offer
£3,953 20/12/2018
One- to-one and group conversations with young people to understand how they can better consider social isolation in their existing programmes.
DCMS - Building Connections Fund - Codesign
£3,953 20/12/2018
One- to-one and group conversations with young people to understand how they can better consider social isolation in their existing programmes.
National Lottery Community Fund - grEAT
£9,840 22/11/2018
12
This funding will be used to deliver cooking and wellbeing workshop sessions for asylum seekers. The project aims to improve mental wellbeing and isolation.
Youth Music - NoteAble
£99,262 15/11/2018
NoteAble
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Grant to Soft Touch
£69,000 23/08/2018
Mods: Shaping a Generation: public engagement project creating an exciting youth subculture exhibition and archive
BBC Children in Need - Grant to Soft Touch Arts Ltd
£21,283 08/05/2018
36
This project is a peer mentoring programme working with young people living in a deprived area. The project aims to improve self belief, improve motivation and achieving goals and promote ....more
DCMS - NPO 2018-2022
£88,510 01/04/2018
NPO 2018-2022
DCMS - STARS
£28,000 01/04/2018
To promote Arts & Culture throughout the UK
DCMS - NPO 2018-2022
£22,128 01/04/2018
To support NPO 2018-2022
National Lottery Heritage Fund - Grant to Soft Touch
£26,200 19/01/2017
Joe Orton: Breaking Boundaries
National Lottery Community Fund - upSTart
£390,972 27/07/2016
59
The project will continue to work with young people aged 10-25 from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in North West Leicester including New Parks and Beaumont Leys offering a range of ways young people ....more
Esmee Fairbairn - Grant to Soft Touch Community Arts
£26,000 14/12/2015
24
Towards work involving disadvantaged young people and families in creative and healthy-eating enterprise activities to develop their life, social and employability skills whilst improving their diets.
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Soft Touch Arts
£14,500 10/06/2015
12
Arts based charity working with care leavers and those with mental ill health. the grant will enable them to pilot a mentoring scheme to complement project and workshop based provision enabling a ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Big Up New Parks
£497,744 11/05/2011
60
Soft Touch Arts (STA) in Leicester will deliver a range of creative projects for disadvantage young people to engage them in activities to improve self confidence, encourage engagement with learning ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (11)
Current Trustees appointed

Age Range of Trustees: 36-65
  • CRAIG STOCKER Appointed: 2021, Occupation: Senior Youth Keyworker
  • JOE CROFTON Appointed: 2012, Occupation: Community Musician
  • SIMA LAD Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Chartered Accountant
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 18/05/2012, number: 1147318
  • Registered at Companies House on 13/10/1986, number: 02063893
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investing charity funds policy and procedures
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
11 returns made; all on time
Main office

50 New Walk
LEICESTER
LE1 6TF

Objectives

THE CHARITY'S OBJECTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:A. TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN THE APPRECIATION AND PRACTICE OF THE ARTS.B. TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THOSE WHO ARE MOST DISADVANTAGED IN SOCIETY BY WAY OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DISABILITY AND VULNERABLE PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCE, SUCH AS BEING IN CARE OR HOMELESS, THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS, IN PARTICULAR BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH THE CREATION OF MUSIC, FILM AND VIDEO, MULTI MEDIA INSTALLATIONS, SCULPTURE, DRAMA AND GRAPHIC DESIGNS.C. TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS AND APTITUDES SUCH AS CREATIVE EXPRESSION, SELF CONFIDENCE, GROUP WORKING AND COMMUNICATION THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS.D. TO ADVANCE IN LIFE AND HELP YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH:I. THE PROVISION OF ARTS AND MEDIA ACTIVITIES PROVIDED IN THE INTEREST OF SOCIAL WELFARE, DESIGNED TO IMPROVE THEIR CONDITIONS OF LIFE;II. PROVIDING SUPPORT AND ACTIVITIES WHICH DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS, CAPACITIES AND CAPABILITIES TO ENABLE THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY AS MATURE AND RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS.E. TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH ARTS, TO DEVELOP THEIR CAPABILITIES SO THAT THEY GROW TO FULL MATURITY AS INDIVIDUALS AND MEMBERS OF SOCIETY.F. TO ACT AS A RESOURCE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE BY PROVIDING ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE AND ORGANISING PROGRAMMES OF PHYSICAL, EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER ACTIVITIES AS MEANS OF:I. ADVANCING IN LIFE AND HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE;II. ADVANCING EDUCATION;III. RELIEVING UNEMPLOYMENT; ANDIV. PROVIDING RECREATIONAL AND LEISURE TIME ACTIVITY IN THE INTERESTS OF SOCIAL WELFARE FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN THE AREA OF BENEFIT WHO HAVE NEED BY REASON OF THEIR YOUTH, AGE, INFIRMITY OR DISABILITY, POVERTY OR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES WITH A VIEW TO IMPROVING THE CONDITIONS OF LIFE OF SUCH PERSONS.G. AND TO CARRY OUT ALL OTHER SUCH WORK INCIDENTAL TO THE ABOVE OBJECTS OF THE CHARITY FOR CHARITABLE PURPOSES FOR THE GENERAL BENEFIT OF THE INHABITANTS OF LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE, EAST MIDLANDS AND OCCASIONALLY IN OTHER AREAS OF THE UK TO SHARE GOOD PRACTICE OR REPLICATE MODELS OF DELIVERY.

Defined Area of Benefit:

LEICESTER, LEICESTERSHIRE, EAST MIDLANDS AND OCCASIONALLY IN OTHER AREAS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving
CharityBase
Authorised officials of this charity can add information to this page (including a Donate Now button) for no cost

Tips for Selecting Charities

Which areas of philanthropy are most effective?
The text of this post is taken from an article on the Effective Altruism forum. It suggests that you can achieve the most impact by supporting causes that fight extreme poverty, improving animal welfare....more
Our Top Tips for Philanthropy
Here are some ideas to help you gain more satisfaction from your philanthropy and confidence that the causes you have selected are impactful. Engage your brain, as well as your heart You....more
How to become a Philanthropist
In this Blog we outline a strategy to help people who are new to philanthropy and for those who feel dissatisfied with the impact they are having. Effective philanthropy is immensely rewarding for donors,....more

Giving is Great