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Annual Report 2002-2003


Performances

It is safe to say that Credo Arts Community has continued to go from strength to strength in the last twelve months. As we met last year for the Annual General Meeting we were looking ahead to a busy time that was significant in both the number of performances it entailed and also the breadth of locations that it involved. This "busy time" seemed to extend into the autumn and has continued throughout the year.

In brief, the past twelve months has seen Credo involved in:

This makes a grand total of 56 performances - a significant increase from previous years as we anticipated at the AGM in 2002, and within the context of at least one performance a week of often new material, we continue to take on the workload of a professional theatre company.

The reputation of Credo has also gone national this year! Our performance commitments have taken us to:

    Many areas of Hull, plus Hedon, Beverley, Swanland, South Cave and Leven, and then further afield - N. Lines (x 2), Hornsea, Grimsby, Bridlington, York (x 3), Bradford, Leeds, Cheshire, Liverpool, Derby, Cambridge, Oxfordshire, St. Albans and London (x 2)

It has been exciting and encouraging to receive requests from Cafod and Christian Aid, as well as many local groups, to be involved in their campaign work, and this has given us a sense of ownership within our commitment to the Trade Justice Campaign. This was particularly noticeable when we went to take part in the first national Trade Justice rally which saw us traveling down to Oxfordshire the day before to work with a group of students from People and Planet on street drama, taking part in an ecumenical service for about two thousand people, and then performing street drama in front of the Houses of Parliament in the afternoon, with the Director of Christian Aid drumming us up an audience at one point!

There have been many highlights looking back over the past year's performances, but it is good, as we reflect, to see the balance between our issue-based work, Christian drama - both within the church and for outreach, and performances for general audiences - based around literature and comedy. Our cabaret night in January, The Time of Your Life, saw record audience attendance of almost 200 people, showing how our reputation across a wide range of audiences is continuing to develop locally as well as for specific purposes nationally.


Schools Work

A major development in Credo's work and reputation this year has come in the form of our schools work. This has been an area of work that we've had to turn down quite often in the past due to work and time commitments of members of the group and was made possible this year by the provision of a GAP year worker, plus the bonus of an extra, self-funded worker (see Community News) We wrote to all the local schools in September, offering assemblies and workshops about Global Citizenship. We have only had one invitation from this so far and lead a very successful assembly at Hessle High School. We have also taken part in a couple of training days for those tackling Global Citizenship in the classroom, for which we got excellent feedback. Since then we have received a grant to work in a local primary school, 5th Avenue Primary School, Hull, and are involved in projects with Year 3 (Pride in Hull video), year 4 (Exploring the Second World War through drama) and Year 5 (Citizenship). This has represented a significant amount of time and effort, and we have lead 29 sessions in school over the last two and a half months, with more projects to come.

We have had excellent feedback from the school. At the launch of the Year 3 video, the Creative Partnerships Co-ordinator thanked Credo for "giving the pupils the opportunity to do all sorts of creative things they wouldn't normally be able to do" and the Lord Mayor was "speechless .. overwhelmed" by the quality of f the outcome. It's great to hear the pupils, staff and creative agencies within Hull talk of Credo with familiarity and respect.


Community News

Credo, as a community, has thrived this year too, We have had basically the same team now for the past couple of years, and this means a high level of openness, trust and teamwork in preparation and performance. We have welcomed both Sarah Mills and Jemima Jones as they have joined us for this year and have appreciated the extra actors to take on roles as our work commitment has increased. Many of us are now familiar with the Trade Justice pieces which gives us a great deal of flexibility when giving out parts. We have also been able to take on presentations during the day and extra performances in the evening and at weekends without individuals increasing their commitment. Several people have suffered with illness this year, and I hope that we have continued to feel the support of our community together in both good times and the more difficult periods.

We have enjoyed working with other people this year, welcoming Richard back to join us for Self Assembly and for our Trade Justice video, which is always a pleasure. We also continue a thriving relationship with the There is Hope team and those who have come along to take on extra parts. Special mention should go to David Cooper and Simon Reeves who have helped form a band with some members of Credo on several occasions.

Of course, we are always looking out for new members who can give the commitment needed and would enjoy being par of the team and community.


Finances

In general, the increase in our work commitments and reputation has led to a successful year financially, earning more from ticket sates and gifts from performances than ever before. Having said that, our outgoings have also increased significantly, and all that money has been used in our general running costs. We also benefited from an appeal that we had to our regular supporters. This money was gratefully received and used, and was also a great encouragement to us as individuals and churches showed their support for our work. We did say, however, that we would not ask again in the near future and whilst we await the outcome of grant applications we may have to consider the implications, particularly with reference to a GAP year work from September 2003.

Putting together a pricing structure for performances when travel is involved has made it much easier and more consistent when liaising with other organizations, although this should be reviewed in the summer. People always think our charges are reasonable and we have never had a group decide not to book us due to cost. It has meant, however, that members of Credo can make more realistic claims for expenses, so although we are not paid for what we do, Credo should not cost us too much either!


And Also ..

As well as all the above, we also found time to publish a set of scripts this time last year. These are scripts we have developed around the issues of Trade Justice and Debt. They have been very well received and it's great to think of our work being performed by other groups around the country. A video is planned to support the scripts and should be ready for the autumn.

The web-site that John has developed has also played a significant role in increasing our profile and has been widely used by people to explore who we are and to find out dates of forthcoming performances.


And Finally..

When we stop and reflect on the past twelve months and on all that we have achieved, it is amazing to think that Credo is a voluntary organization, run on the enthusiasm and commitment of already-busy people. This year has been one of many encouragements, in being able to take a pride in what we do and in hearing the feedback that we get wherever we perform. A huge thank you is due to everyone who has made the past year the success that it has been.


Cathy Westby
March 2003



Annual Report 2003

Looking Ahead

Looking at the past few years and the momentum that Credo has built up, there is no reason to think that this won't continue into the next twelve months. Indeed, we are already booked up in May and June and are receiving invitations every few weeks.

Our regular work with Intermission looks set to continue and the Trade Justice Movement should grow and strengthen and so we would hope to continue with that important work. In fact, we already have three booking requests in November with Cafod in London, Birmingham and Leeds.

We should always be aware, however, that we do not have to keep up with the amount of performances we have achieved the year before. Changing personal circumstances for members and changes of personnel within the group may mean that commitments have to change. We should also be aware that as our reputation spreads the amount of invitations we receive may increase again and we will have to learn how to say no! Our criteria of do we want to do the event and is it worthwhile could lead to us accepting a number of projects that we'd find difficult to manage.

However, this is a nice problem to have! As is the problem of keeping up to the high standard that our audiences expect from our work.

I would like to see us in the next twelve months:

      - continuing the significant contribution we make to the Trade Justice campaign
      - continuing to be used in churches and the local community
      - leaving ourselves space to develop new material for a variety of audiences
      - continuing to enjoy the challenges and the satisfaction of working together

Cathy Westby
March 2003