ULL4NS SPEAKERS ASSOGIATION inging Langua9e To Lile Annual Report 2023
CONTENTS
1. Chair’s Report
2. School Outreach
3. Fuse Fm Overview
4. Other Projects
5. Management and Community Training
6. Working with Others
1. Chair’s Report
2023 proved to be a successful year with the Association returning to normal activities after the pandemic.
We delivered a number of projects which had been funded in 2022 and worked closely with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council on a number of projects. .
The radio station continued to perform well, and we have seen renewed volunteering taking place, while increasing our public benefits by focusing on community events and helping train more people alongside providing vital covid-19 information during the lockdown period.
Annual returns to Companies House, Of-com and the Charity Commission have been completed and the board continues to address funding as best we can to ensure that we move to a more secure future.
This as my first year as chairperson has been a good one, with the association continuing to go from strength to strength.
Ivor Wallace
2. School Outreach
A number of projects were completed with Lislagan PS, Balnamore PS and St.Brigid’s PS.
3. Fuse Fm Overview
FUSE FM Ballymoney has yet again had another successful year in broadcasting of the community radio station. The station continues to grow in volunteers, experience and listenership both across FM and via our online stream which allows listeners outside the Ballymoney broadcast to tune into the stations output.
During 2023 listeners have tuned into the station from as far as the US and Australia and we are planning on DAB broadcasting in the future with discussions already taking place, we are awaiting ofcom call for the area..
The radio station continued to provide vital community information and we are actively working on plans to go digital.
VOLUNTEERS
One of the most important aspects of FUSE FM Ballymoney is our volunteers and we are continually looking and recruiting new volunteers to keep a full time radio station. The majority of the volunteers on the station are from within the broadcast area in line with our 'local requirement' as per OFCOM.
We also have 4 presenters within other parts of Northern Ireland' one of which travels weekly, the other providing a pre-recorded show. Several off peak shows are covered by pre-recorded material from various individuals around the UK.
Volunteers provide a range of roles including, but not exclusively presenting, admin, fundraising and social media just to name a few. Our volunteers are recruited on an equal opportunities basis with those from different religions, in and out of work, disabled and ages range currently from 18-70.
Over the course of 2023, we have welcomed 4 new work experience
students who have been given various broadcast and media training ranging from presenting, show production and audio editing. As well as work experience, we have had links with local schools who have used the medium of radio broadcast to promote their activities.
We have recently commenced an agreement with NRC to help teach their students who are interested in media and radio.
ON AIR
On average we continue to maintain a 'live' or 'as live' output of original material weekly from 9am - 5pm with a slightly reduced service at the weekend. A range of most types of music keeps the station fresh and provides a broadcast that attracts listeners from a range of age groups. Studio 2 has continued to increase our productivity in show production and in our OFF air training abilities.
Text messaging remains the main point of contact between the listeners and the studio, however, we do continue to build our social media output with local news, community event promotions and exclusive content output which has seen an increase in engagements over the year. Our website continues to attract visitors as this is the main way to listen online when listeners are outside the broadcast area. We have over 16000 followers and our social media continues to grow with excellent responses.
FINANCES
2023 made a profit, which will help to secure the future of our association. This will be used to help cash flow when needed during the year ahead.
LOOKING AHEAD 2024
We continue our strategy of growth in the local radio.
We hope to continue to grow revenue and output as we examine moving to digital broadcasting once the licence becomes available in the local area.
Other Projects
a) Culture, Arts and Heritage Projects
We are delivering traditional music tuition every Thursday night in the centre. Over 25 people are involved with this project. We have also worked with Museum services on promoting Ulster Scots.
b) Festival
We ran a successful Halloween Festival in 2023 with numbers attending estimated at 6500.
We also delivered Festival activities for other community groups in the area, helping to generate income into the organisation.
4. Management and Community Training
All training completed was done via zooms/teams as we had no face to face training. During the timeframe, Basic Hygiene was completed and First Aid at Work.
5. Working with Others
During the year, our organisation has worked with a large number of groups, the main ones are shown below :-
Community
Leaney Liaison Committee North Antrim Bands Forum Castle Community Association Kingdom of Dalriada Ulster-Scots Society Ballymoney United Football Club Evergreen Club U3A Compass Advocacy Network Ltd Limavady Residents Association
Organisations
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Limavady Community Development Initiative PSNI NIFRS Dept of Health Dept for Communities Dept of Infrastructure Dept of Economies Dept of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Dept of Foreign Affair Community Foundation NI Building Community Resource Centre North Antrim Community Network Causeway Museum Mid Antrim Museum Volunteer Now Ballymoney Chamber of Commerce