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2024-03-31-annual-report

Chairperson’s Report

A.G.M.

12th December 2024

Annual Report April 2023 – March 2024

G-old Community Partnership Surestart is now in its 23rd year of operation as a multi-agency organisation, delivering services to children and families in the Oldtown, Gortalowry, Killymoon, Ardboe, Dunamore, Pomeroy, Maghera and Town Parks East 2 wards of Mid-Ulster District Council.

The aims of Sure Start are to:

The Current Partners:

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Barnardo’s continues as Lead Body and Causeway and Mid-Ulster Women’s Aid as Accountable Body for the Project. Management Committee meetings are held monthly except in July and August.

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Project M￿ager x 2 2x-18.5 h(￿r5 (Barn￿d0's) Team Mana8er x 2 2 x 18.5 (I Va￿t) (Barnardo's) Volunteer CoordThgtor sP￿h & Theraptst 26.25 Hour5 2 x Earty Years Coordinator 2 x 37 Hours MKlwife 15 Hou￿. S￿bIk Health Nur54 1 20 H￿￿5 rust) (thildmindn8 Coordinator 18 H￿rS INICMA) 20 Hours (Barnardo's) (Trust) (Womff•'S Ail) Office/ Finan Man4er 35 Hours (wom￿5 Aid) 20Vokntee 2 x SLT Ass5t&￿ts Ofte See Attathed She£ Outreath tthm (Bamado's) 2 x20 Hours Admnlstrator Projed w0￿￿r 2 (Vacant} 36 114 Hou Inckndii6 18 Peersupport Mums. 2 Volunt*rs placLYI in chIld￿e team & Ioffice (rrust) 2x20hr5 Projed Workr I Ix20hrs (baina￿0$) Ix17h15 aner 2 x Secretarial Assistsnts I x 20 Hours Ix36114hrs (Barnardo's) (Barn￿d0's) 10.5 Fk>u (Wom￿,5 AKI)

2 x Earty Years Coordinator I x 37 Hour5 I x 37 Hours (Women's Ail) Volunteer5 Senk ChildcoTe Workn- Cookstown Pi•nary StFb)ol 30 hows (Barnarth•'sl DP2-3YO Seni(w Childcare Seni( Childca Worltr- St. Marfs Dunamore Seni Childcare Seni(Y chi care W￿ker- Maghero 20 How5 Seni Childca Worltr- SeniL Childcare Woll￿- Outreach Plav Team latr055 sites) 20 How5 (Barnai(k)'s) Senior Childcar• Worker Maghera121 Seni Childcare Worltr 20 How5 IBainai(k)'s) st. Joseph's Killeenan S•n)ry Plav cps Pomeroy 20 Trlows (Barnaw(b's) SP2-3YO Ar(Ix>e 30 Hows (Barnartkn's) DP2-3YO 16 Hou 20 Hows 20 How$ {B¥rwrdo'sl (Barnaw(b's) DP2-3YO Temi fme (Barnar(kn'$) SDP2-3YO DP2-3YO & Creche + cwec + CTec 3 Childcaie Worf(eK5 I x 25 Hours I x 24 Hour5 Ix 20 hours (Wom￿.$ Aid& Barnardo's) 2 Childcare Wort(ers 2 Childcare Worke 2 Childcare W0￿e 3 Chiklure Workns 3 Chiklcare Workn5 IM201ws (Tenn f•ne) IM25Trws (Tenn f•ne) Ix24￿5 3 x Childcare Workers Floating Childcare staf MaEhera heralel oating Childcare Wor I x20 Hours I x20 Hours 2x20 Hours DP2-3YO 3 x 20 Hours I x 15 IIow5 (Wom￿.$ Aid) Ix22hrs Term TSme 3x20 Hows Im20h￿[S (Women's Aid) (Women'5 Aid) IWcnen's Aid) IW(Then's Aid) Ix24ho Ix 15 hows IW(XTben's Aid) Ix 20 hours (Women's Aid) (Barnardo's) (Women's Aid) IBarnarik>s)

Lurach Centre, Mathera Childcare Stsff Geographical Locations The Surestart Developmental ProEramme for 2- 3 Year Olds Loy Buikl•iBs, Cwkstown Projert Maroger Team Manager Office Manager Admin Staff Outreach Support Team SLT & SLTA s Early Years Coordinators Outreach Support Team NICMVlolunteer Co)rdinator HealthTeam Relief & Floakn'rE Chlldcare staff Iwork acr055 sle51 Cookstown Primary SdK)oI Childcare Stsff A Tdboe Resource Centre Childcare Staff st. Marfs, Dunamorel Rowan Tree (Aitr Pomeroy Outreach PlayTeam Rowan Tree Centre. Pomeroy st. st. Joseph's PTlmary School, Killeenan Primary School, Dunamore Childcare Staff Childcare Stsff The Lurach c￿tre, Maghera Crèche Staff Childcare Stsff Public Health Nurse Kllleenan Loy Build•iB5 Sensory Play ma￿erafeIt Women's Centre Sensory Play Gortalowry House Outreach PlayTeam Outreach Play Projerts Buddies, A￿bOe Outreach Play Team Ma6herafelt Baptlst (thu￿h Outreach Play Team

Current Service Provision

The Surestart Developmental Programme for 2-3 Year Olds.

Activity Levels for the Year

The following is an outline of the activities provided by staff throughout the year: -

REGISTRATIONS

Activity Children Adults
Initial registration visits 54
Registration tel calls 78
Registrations at centre 46

ANTENATAL

Activity Programmes Children Adults
Antenatal Registrations 128
Antenatal Home visits 53 visits 33
Antenatal 1-1 support 33 30
Antenatal tel calls 17 17
Bumps to Babies 4 48
Antenatal Yoga 3 29
Hypnobirthing 5 35
Hypnobirthing1-1 12 sessions 8
Welcome to the World 3 20

BREAST FEEDING

Activity Programmes Children Adults
Infant Feeding 4 27
Breast FeedingGroup 63
Breastfeeding
1-1 support		 20 14
Peer Support referrals 562
Peer Support calls 718

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POSTNATAL

Activity Programmes Children Adults
Postnatal Home visits 96 visits 44
Postnatal Tel support 25 calls 23
Postnatal Reunion 1 13 13

FAMILY SUPPORT

Activity Children Adults
FamilySupport visits 115 33
FamilySupport 1-1 94 27
FamilySupport tel calls 66 31
Weaningsessions 4 17

RESPITE CHILDMINDING

Activity Children Adults
Respite session 834 25
Respite tel calls 30
Respite support visits 70 27

BABY PROGRAMMES

Activity Programmes Children Adults
BabyMassage 14 108 109
BabyMovers 8 65 65
Let’s Playthe BabyWay 5 44 39
BabyClub 5 42 42
BlossomingBabies 5 25 25
Little Goldfish 6 65 57

PARENT PROGRAMMES

Activity Programmes Children Adults
Nurturing 2 14
Fresh Little Minds 2 10
COOK IT 2 12
Understanding
Little Minds		 1 6
Daddyand Me 10 43 32
Paediatric First Aid 2 30

PLAY PROGRAMMES

Activity Programmes Children Adults
Cookstown Lets Play 102 83
Dunamore Lets Play 27 24
Maghera Lets Play 37 30

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PomeroyLets Play 46 34
MessyPlay 1 10 10
SensoryPlay 2 14 11
Art in Forest PlayProg 1 11 7
Beach DayPlayProg 4 39 29
Curious Tots PlayProg 1 21 17
Little Bakers PlayProg 1 10 8
Paint Explorers Play
Prog		 1 8 7
Wiggles & Giggles Play
Prog		 5 65 57

FAMILY FUN DAYS

Activity Programmes Children Adults
BigToddle Cookstown 2 43 31
Christmas Parties 2 137 110
Halloween Parties 2 111 90

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PROGRAMMES

Activity Programmes Children Adults
Chatterbox Party 1 44 33
Bookstart Groups 10 55 42
Rhyme Time 2 17 15
PEEP 2 13 10
SLC advice tel calls 24 15
BabblingBabies 1 7 7
Walk & Talk 4 34 23
Craft & Chat 3 15 15
TalkingToddlers 2 13 11
Chat with Me 13 112 109

TOWN PARKS EAST Programmes

Activity Children Adults
Antenatal Home visits 12 8
Antenatal tel support 2
Initial Home visits 9
Postnatal Home visit 8 7
Family Support Home
visit		 12 6
FamilySupport tel calls 18 6
BabyClub 3 21 21

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Resources provided

Resource Quantity Families
BabyBasics 100 81
Books 250 161
Bookstart 19 17
Dental Packs 83 79
Food Hampers 101 56
SLT 70 66
Toys 21 27
Playactivities 24 24
Transition 76 76

Other Activities at Gold

Staff Training

Staff have undertaken the following mandatory and personal development training during the past year:

Summary

While the past year has been challenging due to staffing issues there has been an increase in the number of registrations with 1377 children and 1684 parents registered. Service uptake of 59% is a 5% reduction on the previous year due primarily to staff vacancy, long term sickness and

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recruitment difficulty which has also been reflected across the childcare sector. The unavailability of creche and reduction in play sessions has for a second year been a contributory factor in lower uptake by children and families.

During the past year 3 staff were on long term sick leave leading to dismissal of 2 staff on health grounds. 4 staff resigned and 2 staff returned from long term sick leave and fostering leave. At year end 42 posts filled and 5 vacant posts. Vacant posts include Administrator, Outreach Support Project Workers, Childcare Worker and Part Time Team Manager. It has been another very stressful year for the staff team and sincere appreciation is extended to all who worked with commitment and passion to support families.

The management committee agreed the Project Manager role be a shared role by Mary Tennyson and Claire Murphy on a permanent basis, both working 18.5 hours per week. Claire also holds the part time Team Manager position.

Thanks is extended to Avril Bowden who worked increased hours to support the finance and admin needs of the service due to administrator vacancy. Additional support was also provided by Martina Watson to help update Surestart Go database and Louise Foster to assist with year-end finance report preparation.

The Surestart Developmental Programmes for 2–3-Year-Olds were delivered to 98 children across 6 sites, i.e. 2 programmes in both Ardboe Resource Centre and Cookstown Primary School, 1 programme in St Joseph’s, Killeenan, St Mary’s, Dunamore, Rowantree Centre, Pomeroy and The Lurach Centre, Maghera. As with every year some programmes were oversubscribed with a waiting list in place. Staff worked flexibly across all sites to ensure programmes kept open. Health and Safety issues forced the programmes in Cookstown to relocate to a classroom within Cookstown Primary School as the mobiles were deemed unsafe for use by Barnardos Property Advisor Sincere appreciation is extended to the childcare staff who worked flexibly, this often meant being moved to a different site at short notice and getting to know the needs of a new group of children.

Repairs were also carried out to the heating system in St Marys, Dunamore and new front door installed. Patio doors were installed in the Rowentree Centre Pomeroy to enable the children directly access the outside play area from the room used by the Developmental programme. Thanks is extended to Aodhan Gervin and Colin Fraser from Barnardos Property Services for their help and support.

Progress has been made with introduction of evaluative processes including Microsoft Forms and use of QR codes to capture impact of service provision and outcomes achieved.

Gold Community Partnership along with the other SureStart projects in the Northern Trust continues to promote breast feeding support for mothers and maintains UNICEF Baby Friendly Stage 3 status. Two breast feeding groups run weekly in Cookstown and Magherafelt and are generally well attended.

As parents continue to experience financial pressures due to cost of living crisis Golsd Surestart continues to seek support such as food hampers, vouchers, fuel stamps etc from charitable organisations including Baby Basics, Antioch SVP and Liberty Church. At Christmas local business have also donated toys and food parcels.

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Inspection of all registered sites by the NHSCT Early Years Social Services Registration and Inspection were carried out in January and February, positive feedback was received and some recommendations on policy update.

Leases for premises at St Mary’s Primary School, Dunamore and Cookstown Primary School remain outstanding.

Thanks, is also extended to Tracy Morrison who ensures offices in Loy St are kept clean and well maintained.

The management committee of Gold Community Partnership has had some change in membership with the resignation of Judith Searle when Rioghnach Murphy returned from maternity leave in May. Patricia Lewsley Mooney joined as a Director in March. Appreciation is extended for the commitment given by members of the Management Committee who have provided oversight and scrutiny of the activities and finances of the project during the past year.

Gold Community Partnership remains registered and compliant with the requirements of the Charity Commission for NI.

Absence of budget confirmation for 23/24 and concern for potential reduction in funding did impact on timely recruitment and planning activities for the year ahead is very difficult.

In July 2023 Causeway and Mid Ulster Womens Aid provided the Childcare Partnership with notice of their intention to withdraw from the role of Accountable Body for Gold Community Partnership. This has led to significant discussion and negotiation with Department of Education and Childcare Partnership to identify the process for Appointment of Accountable Body and impact of this change. These discussions are ongoing and in the interim Causeway and Mid Ulster Womens Aid continue as Accountable Body.

Future Plans

Finally, thanks to the families registered with Gold Community Partnership for their engagement with the service by attending programmes and allowing staff into their homes to support them on their parenting journey.

Thanks also to the staff team and volunteers for their hard work, creativity and determination to move activities back to face-to-face delivery in order to best support families.

The continued provision of funding by Department of Education in difficult economic times has enabled Gold Community Partnership to offer support to families across all eight ward areas.

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Rioghnach Murphy Chairperson, G-Old Community Partnership December 2024

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