Our programs help children and young people to further develop the foundational literacy skills that are the doorway to a long and healthy life. But more than that, we aim to liberate the creative joy that sits in all of us – children and adults alike. This year a record number of children and young people have come through our doors and participated in programs, after school book clubs and as volunteers. We have also been out to a range of schools in diverse settings to work with students and their teachers on programs that marry literacy, creativity, joy and confidence building.

Our supporters and volunteers continue to provide an enormous amount of energy, encouragement and both financial and in-kind support and we thank you all. On behalf of the Board I would also like to thank Susan Keyes-Pearce, Paul Higgins and their partners from Social Venture Partners who have provided on-going support throughout the year to our staff and Board.We welcomed Simon Conlon into our program team and Emily Munro-Harrison to our Programs and Evaluation Board Sub-committee. With some sadness we both thanked and fare-welled Dave Nguyen from our Board. We are fortunate to have a group of highly committed, intelligent Board members who are stewarding our organisation into a sustainable future and I thank each and every one of them.

I would also like to thank the team at 100 Story Building for their passion and commitment to improving the lives of all they work with, led by our indefatigable CEO. And finally can I thank the children and young people who breathe life into all we do.

Sharon Butler100 Story Building Board Chair

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Messages from the Board Chair and CEO..........................................................................3

School workshops.............................................................................................................................6-7

After school workshops.................................................................................................................8-9

Social enterprise................................................................................................................................10-11

Financial report.................................................................................................................................. 12-13

Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................14

Our supporters..................................................................................................................................15

A young program participant had a startling experience on the top floor of 100 Story Building not long ago. Having been a member of our Monday afternoon program for more than six months, it was perhaps just a little unsettling for him to discover that there is a secret reading nook hidden behind one of our bookshelves, and that it had been there the entire time he had been visiting. Having just witnessed our Program Facilitator Simon Conlon casually push open the bookshelf to reveal the secret room, the young writer dropped the pencil from his mouth, stood up, and declared with a slightly shaking voice ‘This is how all good stories begin!’

This past year has been ginormous, and amongst the increase in both free and fee-based programming, we have learned that curiosity is just as important for an emerging social enterprise as it is for young writers. So we have been searching our networks and programs for their own hidden secrets and ideas, in an effort to develop a greater understanding of the needs in our community, and our place in addressing these. We have embarked upon a long-term process of community consultation, and our In the Community discussions with stakeholder representatives will be a key factor in making our new evaluation framework a useful and effective tool.

Business development and sustainability continue to drive our strategic thinking, and we are on track to achieving our goal of earning more from trading income than philanthropic support within the next three years.

I would like to thank the people who have contributed to our success this year : our Board who have led with vision and enthusiasm, and my colleagues Jess Tran, Simon Conlon and Lisa Logan, who accept their lot working in a building filled with monsters, llamas and evil toasters with dignity and good humour. And of course our community of volunteers, pro bono supporters, funders and investors, without whom we would likely only have one level, no trapdoor and very little time or resources to do what we do. Thank you.

Lachlann Carter100 Story Building CEO

Apocalypse Hackers test their game with Level 87 Book Club. Cover illustrations courtesy of Apocalypse Hackers (with colouring and design by Samuel Lewis). This collaborative RPG game is currently under construction on Thursday afternoons. Apocalypse Hackers was developed and run by volunteer Adrian Lucas-Healey.

Caitlyn and Vincent respond to the Squid at Early Harvest.

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6 7

Most days in the Building you will find us all on our skydeck, taking students on a 2 hour journey to the 99 levels beneath the trapdoor, on a Perilous Quest or through the pages of a comic.

The focus of these workshops for students in grades 2-9 is narrative process and creative risk-taking, and often we see only the beginnings of stories. This year, those possibilities became complete drafts snail mailed to us from eager young writers. We then read and returned them with feedback from our skilled volunteer readers.

This growth and enrichment of our school workshops was the result of capacity building in staff, communication and evaluation: Simon Conlon (previously a 100 Story Building volunteer) began program facilitation in January, we improved communication with teachers and schools about their needs and we developed an evaluation framework.

The evaluation framework has already informed program planning and development. We have more schools booking in than ever before, and we are beginning to understand how we can maximise their usefulness for teachers.

One outcome teachers are looking for from these workshops is sparking ideas – judging from all the wolfgorillas, dinosaur armies, Golden Jars of Nutella and Spirits of Octobirds* discovered here we think we’re achieving this pretty well. But it is often difficult for teachers to continue building creative engagement back in the classroom. In 2016 we will pilot a workshop incursion that helps teachers open their own secret doors to narrative creativity.

The evaluation also helps us to understand our reach and impact on the schools and students that need the most support. Visits by these schools increased as an overall number of students but decreased as a proportion of workshops delivered: access and school/community resources are ongoing barriers to participation.

We are committed to working with schools with high socio-educational disadvantage scores and a majority of students from linguistically diverse backgrounds, and we’re using these school workshops to support our efforts in establishing longer term, collaborative projects with those schools.

Students who have participated in other programs at 100 Story Building (including school workshops and Early Harvest) show continued engagement with their writing – many are already asking about when they can write for Early Harvest again!

Donna Mizzi, Literacy Coordinator, Deer Park North Primary School

The Underwater Fancy-dress Parade workshop with St Monica’s Primary School, author Davina Bell and illustrator Allison Colpoys.

Altona Meadows Primary School ventured 100 Stories Down beneath our trapdoor.

*FYI quicksand made a strong resurgence this year so remember to keep moving when you visit 100 Story Building.

What’s down there? Work, dragons and giants.

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Confidence. A sense of belonging. These are the outcomes we seek in providing children and young people with a safe space to experiment with ideas and to take creative risks. Our regular after school workshop participants talk most about having fun with friends and gaining confidence here, and in doing so they have produced an incredibly varied body of work. Here are just some of the ways children and young people shared their work this year.

WRITE CLUB

These young writers were invited to submit to Things a Map Won’t Show You, a collection of short stories. The editors, and our regular volunteers with publishing skills, supported them in the submission process, inspiring further engagement in the task of drafting and revision. Write Club are now keen to talk about, share and reflect on their work, showing increased confidence and enjoyment in their creations.

You meet people you don’t usually meet, get exposed to different things ... you learn new things and in that way you’re able to connect with more people.

Member, Level 87 Book Club

The main reason we keep coming back is the positive and encouraging atmosphere created by all the volunteers and staff. He has formed some great relationships with the people at 100 Story Building and loves coming in each week.

Darren, BooWriClu parent

It’s a collaborative effort ... if we do something it’s influenced by everyone’s decision.

Member, Apocalypse Hackers

Joining was one of the best decisions of my life, because I met so many wonderful people and made so many friends. On top of that, I got my very own e-Book, got support with all my writing and learnt so much about writing structure and techniques.

Keely, Write ClubLEVEL 87 BOOK CLUB

As roving reporters in Footscray Community Arts Centre’s West Writers Forum, or as guest bloggers for the Centre for Youth Literature’s Inside a Dog site, these young readers have taken their weekly discussions about all things book-feeling to a wider audience. They identify this confidence to connect with others as being integral to feeling a sense of belonging.

After school activities have limited geographic reach as we are constrained by family and young people’s ability to access 100 Story Building independently. The needs of young people are highly individualised, and we are growing our awareness of how this operates as a safe space and the sensitivities of introducing change to the group’s participants or activities.

Elena from Level 87 Book Club interviews Omar Musa at the West Writers Forum.

Adding stories to Bundit Puangthong’s early harvest-inspired work during BooWriClu.

Next year we look forward to increasing participant numbers and reach by working with the community (especially young people) on program development, exploring other locations for workshops and sharing the stories created here to a wider audience.

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Our vision for 100 Story Building as a social enterprise is to deliver projects that contribute to our sustainability as well as our social purpose. This year our activities ranged from co-created projects with schools, organisations, libraries and local government, to creative engagement of children in strategic consultancy, to our holiday workshops for children and writing workshops for adults.

Informed by our daily school workshops, many of these projects engage with schools and communities to support improved outcomes for their students. We facilitated workshops for and co-created programs with primary and secondary schools, from our immediate neighbourhood and as far west as Corio, Geelong; library, youth and early years services from five city councils, festivals, universities, community-engaged arts organisations and other not-for-profit organisations. Many of these projects aimed to engage students with diverse experiences including: socio-

educational disadvantage, English as an additional language and refugee or asylum-seeker backgrounds.

Our major work this year focused on co-creating projects with schools, literacy leaders and teachers that built their capacity to drive creative risk-taking in their students. We also developed workshops that engaged children creatively in strategic consultation processes, creating platforms from which their voices could be taken in to account by decision-makers. This key change in project delivery resulted in a significant increase in participant numbers, while workshop numbers only increased marginally (555 participants in 58 workshops in 2014).

Our approach centres around embedding sustainability to the program itself, with a focus on skills development and capacity. We are working particularly to understand the needs of schools in this area.

OPENING UP THE TRAPDOOR

This series of teacher professional development workshops was run in collaboration with two local schools: Footscray West Primary School and St Monica’s Primary School. The project aimed to build capacity for teachers to design and implement their own creative literacy programs in early years classrooms, and to improve reading, writing and numeracy Best Start indicators in the City of Maribyrnong. Initial analysis of evaluation data shows that ongoing support for teachers to incorporate creative strategies in their literacy teaching, scaffolding and co-creating frameworks for them to model creative risk and explore storytelling with their students using slow progressions and sustained effort, leads to improved literacy and engagement outcomes for students.

Maribyrnong City Council: Strategy for Children 2015-2018

SOCIAL ImPACT

Part of achieving our mission is making sure the things we do together are right for the needs of children and young people. And in assessing what’s right for their needs, we recognise the need for families, teachers, organisations and other community members who children and young people interact with on a daily basis to inform the development of our programs.

This year we developed an evaluation framework that met our needs of program improvement but also built capacity within our organisation to undertake measurement and data collection. To support this, we began a series of workshops that bring the wider community around 100 Story Building together to develop our collective capacity to provide programs, evaluate and improve outcomes for children and young people.

Next year we are looking to engage young people themselves in this process, and provide support for youth-led events.

At St Monica’s Primary School, Opening Up the Trapdoor led to author readings at their annual Readers and Writers Festival.

Making never-ending comics at Melbourne Writers Festival.

At the planning level, it was incredibly successful... it’s added a lot of value. There will be a change in how we do things because of it.Annie, Literacy Leader

Getting that creativity, scaffolding them in a way that wasn’t too open. That was the most powerful thing about the project.

Kim, Teacher

Opening Up the Trapdoor - St

Monica’s PS

REVENUES Trading RevenueGrant IncomeOther DonationsInterestTOTAL REVENUES

EXPENSES Staff ExpensesProgram ExpensesAdmin ExpensesMarketing & Fundraising ExpensesDepreciation & AmortisationTOTAL EXPENSES PROFIT/(LOSS) FOR THE YEARTOTAL COmPREHENSIVE INCOmE/(LOSS)

CURRENT ASSETS Cash and Cash Equivalents Trade and Other Receivables Prepaid Expenses TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS

NON CURRENT ASSETS Property, Plant and Equipment TOTAL NON CURRENT ASSETS

TOTAL ASSETS

CURRENT LIABILITIES Trade and other Payables Provisions Income in Advance Social Traders loan - current TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES NON CURRENT LIABILITIES Social Traders loan - non-current TOTAL NON CURRENT LIABILITIES TOTAL LIABILITIES NET ASSETS

EQUITY Retained Earnings TOTAL EQUITY

12 13

STATEmENT OF FINANCIAL POSITIONFOR YEAR ENDING 30 JUNE 2015

201576,279320,29832,4249,191438,192

214,39323,81497,69311,31439,465386,67951,51351,513

610,3837,9284,901623,211

72,80572,805

696,016

18,92714,894155,00012,707201,528

57,29357,293258,821437,195

437,195437,195

201459,819179,10030,4978,486277,901

159,86733,95384,3367,87737,470323,503-45,602-45,602

398,8973,1465,980408,023

112,270112,270

520,293

12,14912,587109,875

134,611

134,611385,682

385,682385,682

201340,255433,3788,0788,760490,471

100,1624,81412,0101,30959118,354 372,117 372,117

444,806 4,492

449,298

1,879 1,879

451,177

13,900 5,993

19,893

19,893 431,284

431,284 431,284

ABRIDGED FINANCIAL STATEmENTS

INCOmE

EXPENSES

Our ability to increase trading income and move towards sustainability was supported this year by philanthropic foundations whose operational and capacity-building grants and business mentorship allowed us to concentrate on program delivery, evaluation and strategic expansion. We thank them for their wholehearted support of our vision.

Trading income increased 30% from the 2014 financial year, although the proportion of trading income to total income decreased slightly as a result of large increases in grant and donation income. Overall, income increased by 60% from the 2014 financial year. An expenditure increase of 16.5% was due mainly to the creation of a new staff role and associated salary costs.

100 Story Building’s accounts were audited in 2015 by Haines Muir Hill.

Trading 18%

Grant Income 73%

Other Donations 7%

Interest Received 2%

People Expenses 62% Operational Expenses 28%

Program Activity Expenses 7%

Marketing & Fundraising Expenses 3%

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We’d like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge the foundations, companies and individuals who have supported us this year. Thank you to The Ian Potter Foundation, Social Traders, Portland House, Social Venture Partners, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, The Percy Baxter Charitable Trust managed by Perpetual, Readings Foundation, Thinking Man Online, Fouress Foundation, Bounce Books, Story Wines, Pacific Greens, Design Inscape, Readings Books, Aesop, Print Together, Hardie Grant Egmont and the generous individuals who have donated and supported us on this journey.

We would also like to particularly thank these amazing people who have given so generously with their time, advice and networks this year : our wonderful board members Sharon Butler, Roslyn Moloney, Stewart Leslie, Pam Macintyre, Victoria Thom, Alice Pung, Michael Short, Jenna Williams and Dave Nguyen. Big thank yous also to our author ambassador Sally Rippin, committee advisory member Hilary Dixon, Judy Buchan, Jennie Hill of Sharp Pencils and Kirsten Sadler.

Bundit Puangthong, Jennifer Tran, Skunk Control, Jessica Wilson and Matt Hobson brought our windows to life this year, Peader Thomas and Amy Devereux mapped out a new galaxy for our wall, Sofia Makin and Cameron Baker prettied up our comic vending machine and Giordano Biondi created the cityscape in the bookshelf that inspired many storyline narratives.

To St Monica’s Primary School, Footscray West Primary School, Maribyrnong City Council, Northern Bay College, Wyndham City Council, Manor Lakes College, Little River Primary School, Baden Powell College, Melton City Council, Western Councils, Kurunjang Primary School, Department of Education and Training (South Western Region), Save the Children and Melbourne Writers Festival, City Library, Creative Victoria, State Library Association of Victoria, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Albert Park Library, The Wheeler Centre, VU and Social Traders – we’ve loved working with you all this year.

Special shout outs to volunteers Amarlie Foster for project coordination and facilitation of Early Harvest (and Andy Griffiths for launching it), Emily Munro-Harrison for evaluation framework development, Bronwyn Simmons for the policy handbook review, Adrian Lucas-Healey for Apocalypse Hackers, Elliot Georgiou for 100SB News Network, Brendan Barnett and Sebastian Fowler for Pigeon Post and Cameron Baker for White Night.

And, thank you to these amazing volunteers who have brought incredible amounts of enthusiasm, model risk-taking and fun to our day-to-day activities. So many stories now exist because of you. Allee Richards, Allison Menzies, Amarlie Foster, Amelia Featherstone, Andrew Lyons Dawson, Anne-Marie Restall, Anne Hua, Annie Reid, Ashay Baget, Brendan Barnett, Bronwyn Simmons, Cameron Baker, Camille Broomheaad, Claire Feain, Cleo Gianottis, Dani Rossi, Dominic Lai, Elena Demosthenous, Elizabeth Bryer, Ellen Boyd-Williams, Elliot Georgiou, Emily Munro-Harrison, Fran Atkinson, Holly Alexander, Jackie Kerin, Jane Hone, Jennifer Tran, Jessica Wilson, Jess Tavassoli, Jim Hart, Julia Weaver, Julia Wallace, Kaydi Hamilton, Kathryn Sullivan, Marika Nordquist, Mary Bekele, Matt Coppens, Matt Hobson, Michael Precel , Rita Ana Pires, Samantha Helps, Samantha Forge, Sebastian Fowler, Shonelle Kent, Sofia Makin, Sonya Leonello, Susannah Carr, Ursula Webb, Veronica Campbell, Vicki Renner, Virginia Hancock and Will Robertson.

Written by Jessica TranDesigned by Samuel LewisIllustrated by: Apocalypse Hackers and Samuel Lewis (cover), Samuel Lewis (p4–6, 8, 10,12, 14–15).Photos by: Rachel Main, courtesy of Footscray Community Arts Centre (p9); all other photos by 100 Story Building.