NORTH BALLYMENA COMMUNrrY CLUSTER TRUSTEES, REPORT The Trustees present thelr Annual Report with the Financial Statements of the Associatlon for the period ended 31 March 2019. The trustees have adopted the provlslons of the Statement of Recommended Practice for Charlties (SORP), accounting arid reporting under UK Generally ACpted Accountlng Practlce In preparlng the Financlal Statements. In setting our objectives and planning for the year the trustees have glven careful consideration to the Charity Commisslon Nl's guldance on public benefit to ensure that the actlvities have helped to achieve the charity's purpose and provlde a benefit to the beneflclarles. The following report reflects the work of North Ballymena Community Cluster during the period l Aprfl 2018 to 31 March 2019. Principal Acts'vitles The North Ballymena Community Cluster encourages and promotes working together of the resldents, community groups, local authoritles and statutory bodies withln the North Ballymena area in order to.. Advance communlty growth Develop a sustainable communlty infrastructure Develop and support community servlces Improve Infomiation flow and neIOrkIng opportunities As the name suggest the cluster Is based withln the North Ballymena area. The member groups are: Ballymena North Partnership Doury Road Development Group Dunclug Partnership Publlc Benefits The benefits that flow from purpose.. 1.1 Increased local knowledge, access to Infomiatton and education and the opportunity to utlllse a local community hub. Maintaln a communlty offlce In Ballymena North Centre where individuals and groups can meet, undertake one-to-one or group tralnlng or host meetlngs themselves. Provlde support from a communlty development facllitator on communlty development matters and slgnpostlng to other organlsations as dlfferent areas of expertlse are required. Malntsln a webslte on behalf of the cluster and its groups and either directly or Indlrectly support their Facebook pages. Regular weekly postlng In relation to engagement, trainingi funding and neIorkIng opportunlties and utillse local community noti Lx)ards. 1.2 Reduce soclal Isolation, improved community Infrastructures and Improved communlty life for local people aCSIng projects and events. Delivered a monthly seniors luntheon club, Forever Young, with an average attendance of 35-40 per month. In excess of 400 senlors attended, Activltles included: The provlsion of a meal and In addition educational talks, remlnlscence work, mu51cal sesslons, workshops to Improve physlcal acttvlty and trips out to both recreational and educatlonal venues. These events bring together local senlors, provlding opportunltles for social Interactlon and help to reduce soclal Isolation; they provlde them wlth Information on other ServIS available to thern and encourdge them to Improve both thelr physlcal and mental health. Our project has made a great dIfferen to the older people In the North Ballymena area as they had a monthly event to lod¢ forward to and they really appreclated the chance to get out and meet up whilst enjoying a speaker/attlvity and a warm meal. Some attendees Say they wouldnt be out In the month If It wasn't for the Forever Young sesslon. The senlor communitle5 from the three estates In the area mix well together now and the Is always laughter and fun at the events. Before the establlshment of this monthly club, these older people had Ilmlted opportunities to socialise together
NORTH BALLYMENA COMMUNrrY CLUSTER TRUSTEES, REPORT Provided support to both the local carers group and the retirement group in terms of project development and governance. Produced and dellvered a Schools Fun Challenge Day engaging wlth four local pdmary schools In the North Ballymena area. One of the few events that brings standard and speclal needs schools together targeting P7 chlldren this event provides an engagement opportunlty for children who are approachlng a move to secondary educatlon and allows for them to build upon the Interaction proce55 thèt takes pla5 between the schools as part of the shared education programme. It a150 brlngs a range of pathers such as the Police Service for Northem Ireland, Council Good Relations, Active Cornmunity Coaches into dirett contact with local children and encourages the development of positive lationShIpS beeen young people and support agencies. Undertake regulor evaluation of programmes Internally and with outside organisations. Supported local partrership working to help the delivery of a youth led colour run. 1.3 include increased community participation, motlvatlon and eXperIen leadlng to a confident and sustalnable community. Action planning sesslons undertaken Encourdged and developed Volunteering In the North Ballymena area Contlnued to clrculate the "Volunteerlng In North Ballymeno" booklet, distributed to local shops, agenaes, organlsations, doctors, surgerles and indivlduals at events Ran engagement days out In the community With local group members to attratt new volunteers Publicised volunteerlng opportunlties 0 Support 10 new volunteers into community activlty wlth local groups Ran one-to-one tralnlng sesslons for group members Supported the provision of travel expenses relatlng to voluntary work undertaken Provided tralnlng sesslons around good governance, GDPR, Facebook administration, face paSnting for community events and child protection Provided best prattlce vlslts to other community groups to Increase awareness and knowledge of work that could be undertaken Provided direct community development support to the groups that make up the cluster Supported estate-based communlty events and programmes Publicised SEUPB Peace IV programmes and encouraged engagement of local people in a range of programmes from senlors programmes to local area network programmes to an orchard based programme. 1.4 1ncrea*d confidence for local people In thelr elected community representstives and rn0 local people benefltlng from an effective community infrastrutture. Invlted elected representatlves to all events to develop strong working Ilnks between groups and council Supported communlty development Inltlatlves, worked to Improve on good govemance, development of policies 1.5 include an increase in partner5hlp worklng, developlng best pract1 and ensurlng maximlsed parttclpatlon and co-operation. Produced and dellvered a number of cluster engagement events throughout the year. Produced and dellvered the OpportuniDAY event - with more than 30 groups neorIng and presenting their work to statutory agencles and members of the public. Worked In partnershlp with Department for Communities and Consumer Council around clttzens, rights. These events provlded an opportunity for local groups to engage with each other, to raise awareness of the vvork being undertaken with the wider publlc, to start the networkSng and partrershlp process to allow for reduction In dupllca1Jon of services and maximisatlon of output locally.
NORTH BALLYMENA COMMUNrrY CLusfER TRUSTEES, REPORT 1.6 Include an Increased understandlng of good governan and partnership working, effective communlty representatlon, Influen on policy maklng and the bullding of relationship5 between the communlty and statutory bodies and Ictal authorltSe5. * Prowded facllltated support around best practi and good govemance at each group meeting. Encouraged and SUPPOrted local volunteers to joln tralnlng programmes that enabl&l them to bulld thelr confIden and sell-esteem to allow them to engage In hlgher level community and statutory meetings, * Invlted representatlves from all statutory bodles, local authoritles and outslde agencles to attend localty based meetings to develop relat4onshlp5 of trust with local residents and support the growth of social capltal for the area. Whllst we are content that we are dellvering agalnst the key objectlyes of our oruanlsation there Is stlll much work to done to encourage engagement, increase volunteerlngi to encourage collaboration and partt)ershlp worklng. We wlll contynue In our efforts to work wlth other groups to mlnlmlse dupllcatijn of tommunlty servlces and Increase the Impact that we can all have collectlvely In our area of work. Pollcy on resenfes The trustees feel that It Is nesSary to hold an amount In unre5trfcted funds to enable them to cover expendlture for tjerlod of three months to enable the company to contlnue at Its ajrrent level of actlvlty. Revlew of the Buslness The trustees were satlsfied with the results for the year. No tsxation15 payable a5 the assoclatlon Is a reglstered charty, charity number N100203 Future Strategy The Assoclatlon plans to contlnue the acuvltles as outllnèj above. Their alms are as follows: l. To further develop a sustalnable InfrastrLrture In North Ballymena by developing the North Ballymena Communlty auster In order to strengthen the voluntory and comrllunity sector wlthln the deflned area; ensuring that Cluster needs are servlced through an operatlonal Offl provldlng advlce and support to l¢¢al groups In the area Includlng those of emerglng groups. 2. To Improve Informatlon, neorkIng and fundlng adv1 to and among groups in the North Ballymena Area by Improvlng Informatlon flow on relevant communlty based 50clal, economic community and physical Infrastr¢Jcture i55ue5' networklng, sharlng and collaboralSve opportunltle5 for all the fundiiig adv( to the area In order to Improve the quallty of life for those who Ilve wllhln the North Ballymena Cluster area. 3. To improve communlty seNlces by developlng and 5UPPK)rtlng servlces In the Cluster area whlch addre55 communlty needs, helplng to bulld better communlty relatlons and support communlty coheslon, Rlsk Assessment The Board has conducted a revlew of major rtsks to whlch the charity ts exposed and 5YStems have been estab115hed to minimise these rlsk5. The flndings were low rlsk. TStee5 The trustees of the Board durSng the year were: Mr Davtd McGucklan Chalrman Mr P J MrAvoy VI Chalmian Mr Robert Mccahon Sectary Mr Barry Gordon Treasurer Mr Patdck Kevln Mccrudden Mrs Catherlne Patrlcla McQulllan Thls report has LEen wepared In accordan wlth the provislons of the Ststement of Recommended Practlce for Charlties. Approved by the Board and slgned on Its behalf by: MrRo Mccahon On behalf of North Ballymena Communlty Cluster Secretary Date