2025-04-30-annual-report

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Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society

Annual Report & Statement of Accounts

For the year to April 30[th] 2025

Reference and Administrative Details ................................................................................ 3 Charity Name .............................................................................................................................. 3 Charity Number .......................................................................................................................... 3 Charity Trustees as of April 30[th] 2025 .......................................................................................... 3 Past Trustees .............................................................................................................................. 3 Advisors ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Structure, Governance and Management ........................................................................... 4 Governing Document and Constitution ....................................................................................... 4 Trustee Selection and Management ............................................................................................ 4 Related Organisations ................................................................................................................. 4 Objectives and Activities .................................................................................................... 5 Charitable Objects ...................................................................................................................... 5 Public Benefit Statement ............................................................................................................ 5 Summary of Main Activities ........................................................................................................ 5 Achievements and Performance ................................................................................................. 6 Community Educational Outreach .............................................................................................. 7 Public Events .............................................................................................................................. 7 Meeting Programme ................................................................................................................... 8 Members Events ......................................................................................................................... 8 Website and Social Media ........................................................................................................... 8 Media ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Membership ............................................................................................................................. 10 Financial Review .............................................................................................................. 10 Financial Management ............................................................................................................. 10 Accounts for the year ended April 30[th] 2025 ............................................................................. 12 Other Points .................................................................................................................... 12 Child Protection Policy .............................................................................................................. 12 Risks and Accidents ................................................................................................................... 12 Chairman’s Note .............................................................................................................. 13

Annual Report for the year ended April 30[th] 2025

The Trustees of the Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society are pleased to submit their report and accounts for the period 1[st] May 2024 to 30[th] April 2025.

Reference and Administrative Details

Charity Name

Northern Ireland Amateur Astronomy Society also known as NIAAS

Charity Number

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland, No. NIC100233

Inland Revenue Charity No. XT18196

Charity Trustees as of April 30[th] 2025

Mr Jonathan Bingham

Chairman

Mr Jason ChrisMe Vice- Chairman

Mr Stephen Beasant Secretary

Mr Philip MatcheR Treasurer/Webmaster

Mr Lawrence Hanna CommiRee member Dr Jacqueline Crosby CommiRee member

Mrs Geraldine Gribben

CommiRee member

Past Trustees

There have been no resignaMons during this season.

Advisors

Banking Santander PayPal (UK) Limited 54 Main Street 5 New Street Square Larne London

Co.Antrim EC4A 3TW

BT40 1SS

Insurance Public Liability Insurance supplied by Policy Bee

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document and Constitution

The Society is unincorporated, governed by a consMtuMon adopted on 5[th] January 2009 and last amended 15[th] May 2014.

The Society is run enMrely by its members who pay an annual membership donaMon

Trustee Selection and Management

The Society is managed by an elected commiRee, which consists of all the appointed trustees. The commiRee is elected at the AGM by the method noted in the consMtuMon. A number of trustees also hold offices within the society as noted in the list of current trustees.

The commiRee typically meet at least four Mmes in the society year.

recent acMviMes and planning of future acMviMes. Outreach events and our programme are also normally on the agenda.

The commiRee also hold discussions on the running of the society in a private secMon of our forum.

The Annual Report and Statement of Accounts are approved by the trustees and then presented to the commiRee at the Annual General MeeMng.

Related Organisations

The NIAAS is a member of the Irish FederaMon of Astronomical SocieMes. Mr Stephen Beasant and Mr Jonathan Bingham are the society’s representaMves with this organisaMon.

The society’s lectures are held at Ballyclare High School. The NIAAS hires the Lecture Theatre in the school from the school board.

Objectives and Activities

Charitable Objects

The object of the society as set out in its consMtuMon is the advancement of educaMon for the public benefit in astronomy and its associated sciences.

The society aims to promote astronomy as a recreaMonal acMvity for its own sake but also aims to promote public awareness and understanding of science and the scienMfic method.

Public Benefit Statement

with their duty regarding the Charity Commission’s Guidance on public benefit and that the public benefit requirement has been fulfilled in the acMviMes of the society in the year ending April 30[th ] 2025.

share an interest in astronomy and its associated sciences. While we would encourage those with an interest in astronomy to join our ranks, we also strive to make our services and knowledge available to non-members.

Summary of Main Activities

The core acMviMes of the society are:

Delivery of a monthly meeMng programme during our season covering a wide range of astronomical topics
Holding public events at key astronomical moments throughout the year
Providing an outreach programme available to other organisaMons

faith. Although the society programme of meeMngs takes place in Ballyclare, Co. Antrim the society strives to hold events in all areas in Northern Ireland.

We do regular outreach events with organised groups such as schools, Scouts, BB, GB and more increasingly with NaMonal Trust locaMons. As well as doing talks at these organisaMons we also strive to bring our telescopes and do some visual observing.

We do not charge any fees to these organisaMons however voluntary donaMons at the events are readily accepted.

Achievements and Performance

Stargazing Event, Burr Point

For the 3[rd] year in a row we were pleased to take part in the stargazing event organised by the Ards and North Down Borough Council at Burr Point near Ballyhalbert. This event has proved very popular in the area, as this is the 3[rd] year it has been sold out. Over 100 members of the public enjoyed a fantasMc night of observing experience.

Several telescopes were setup in the harbour along with a projector and screen and we were able to successfully show a live feed of Saturn from one of the telescopes. The event went down really well as we enjoyed good weather on the night and we are already in talks with the council to repeat it again this year.

Community Educational Outreach

talks, setup advice and observing:

Tuesday 26[th] November, 2024, Private house call, telescope support Belfast area

Friday 28[th] February 2025, First Presbyterian church BB Junior and Senior secMon talks and observing

Thursday 17[th] April 2025, NIAAS Talk to Mens Shed Ballycastle

Public Events

We took part in two public events this season:

6[th] September 2024 – Stargazing event @ Burr Point with the Bangor/Ards Council (100 people were in aRendance)

14[th] February 2025 – Stargazing event with the NaMonal Trust for NI Science FesMval @ the Old Church, Cushendun (50 people were in aRendance)

Meeting Programme

This season the society has put together another great mixture of speakers on varying subjects relaMng to astronomy. We had four new speakers to the society this season.

2024/2025 Season

September 2nd – Philip MatcheR (NIAAS) – How To Build An Observatory (Nearly)!

October 7th – Niamh Mallaghan (QUB) – Searching For Giant Exorings

November 4th – Gabriel Finneran (UCD) – Eirsat Satellite

December 2nd – Joseph Murtagh (QUB) – Exploring our Solar System: Past, Present, and Future

January 6[th] – Cancelled due to weather

March 3rd – Dr. Mike Simms (NMNI) – The Winchcombe Meteorite Fall of 2021: My part in its downfall

April 7th – Dr. Andy McCrea (North Down Telescopes) – The Great 2024 Mexican Eclipse May 12th – Members Talks & AGM – Stevie Beasant

We are enjoying another good year of turnout at our meeMngs with an increase to an average of 35/45 aRendees per night.

Members Events

The observing group made it out as open as the weather permiRed, although it has been disappoinMng weatherwise in recent Mmes.

A group of members made a trip to Donegal this year, the search for the best dark skies is sMll ongoing!

Website and Social Media

The website and social media side of the society is a great way to communicate with the public and highlight what the society is all about! All these avenues are free to the public and open to all.

Forum: Our Forum is showing 627 members and new members are joining to seek help and advice on equipment. This is also the place that members can buy and sell their equipment.

the society here and find out our contact details and the programme of meeMngs and events. We have a massive secMon on astronomy arMcles in our learning zone and an ever-growing gallery containing images, mostly taken from N.Ireland.

Facebook: We have over 1.8K followers on Facebook now and this is a fantasMc avenue for the society to adverMse its events. As well as puqng details of our events online, we also put up the latest astronomical news from around the Internet. It is a great way to noMfy people instantly of ‘happening now’ events like aurora noMces. We get great feedback from our followers, and plenty of help is given out to quesMons such as ‘what should I buy as my first telescope?’

X: Our X following is also growing steadily, we now have over 400. As with Facebook the same informaMon is shared here!

Media

This year we have been adverMsing our meeMngs on the ‘What’s On NI’ website.

The NIAAS society was included in BBC Sky at Night magazine in their Society in Focus SecMon

The media is an important way of geqng the NIAAS name out to the public and leqng people know what we do.

Membership

Total membership numbers are well up on last year, and it’s great to see so many new faces. This year we welcomed a total of 57 members of whom 17 were new to the society. We are really pleased that there is sMll this high level of interest in astronomy and the NIAAS.

Membership Trend Over the Last Eight Seasons

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80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2022/2023 2023/2024 2024/2025
Returning Members New Members Associate Members
----- End of picture text -----

Financial Review

Financial Management

in such will be undertaken in accordance with their requirements.

The General Fund is unrestricted and is used for the day-to-day running of the society.

I’m pleased to say, for the third Mme we have received gip aid from HMRC to the sum of £291.37. This was claimed in January 2025 and I’d like to thank our members for allowing us to collect this on their tax paid.

Outreach donaMons came in at £650 and I’d like to thank these organisaMons for their very generous contribuMons. As always, we pride ourself as an organisaMon in not charging to hold events but are always welcome of donaMons to the society.

As expected, our largest expenditure this season was for the hire of the school hall, a deducMon of £450 for the season.

The second highest expenditure was for speaker fees, which included an overnight stay in a hotel, fuel and a meal.

We made some addiMonal purchases this season, notably a new banner, eclipse glasses, audio equipment and a new keRle.

I would also like to again thank our website hosMng company 34SP.com. They provide our website hosMng for free, which is an annual saving of over £120.

Income

Expenditure

Accounts for the year ended April 30[th] 2025

NIAAS BALANCE SHEET FOR 1st May 2024 - 30th April 2025

----- Start of picture text -----
Starting Balance In Bank Account 3164.91
Petty Cash 307.35
Starting Total £ 3472.26
Money In Money Out
Membership £ 330.00 Hire of School Hall £ 450.00
Membership from Paypal £ 673.32 Domain Name (NIAAS.co.uk) £ 7.50
Membership from Sumup CC £ 34.41 Tea & Biscuits etc £ 82.34
Donation Bucket £ 20.36 PLI Insurance £ 141.12
Outreach Donations £ 650.00 Speaker Fees £ 293.90
Gift Aid £ 291.37 Purchases - Audio/Cups/Eclipse Glasses/Kettle/Banner £ 141.95
Easy Fundraising £ 22.40
Total £ 2021.86 Total £ 1116.81
starting total 3472.26
plus income + 2021.86
£ 5494.12
Santander Account 4269.60
minus outgoings - 1116.81 Petty Cash 107.71
Final Balance £ 4377.31
----- End of picture text -----

Other Points

Child Protection Policy

The Society runs a child protecMon policy, with Mr Philip MatcheR and Mrs Geraldine Gribben being the two named officers. I am pleased to say there have been no reported incidents!

Risks and Accidents

The society endeavours to carry out a risk assessment for any of their events and for the meeMngs at Ballyclare High School, Mr Jonathan Bingham and Mr Derrick McCourt are the named fire officers. We have a sign in book at every meeMng in the event of a fire.

We are pleased to report that there haven’t been any reported accidents this year!

Chairman’s Note

This season has been a very good one with quite a few observable events taking place in the night sky; a fantasMc aurora display, a parMal lunar eclipse, a parMal solar eclipse and a parMcularly good naked eye comet- to name but a few.

Our membership has remained steady with new members joining and aRending the talks on a regular basis, with valuable feedback on the speakers this season.

We parMcipated in several outreach events this season that were enjoyed by all who aRended them, as ever we were at the mercy of the weather.

Some planned events had to be cancelled due to weather constraints and will be organised at a later date.

Our magazine ‘Azimuth’ is published via pdf and emailed to the members every two months; this format has facilitated more content as what could be printed out previously.

The observing group got out a few Mmes but as usual the weather has been disappoinMng.

We are looking forward to the 2025/2026 season, and we are already looking at speakers for the new season.

Thanks to all our members for their support and contribuMons to the society over the year.

This concludes my Mme as Chairman of the NIAAS and I would to thank the commiRee for their efforts and support over this Mme. I wish the next chairperson all the best.

Jonathan Bingham

NIAAS Chairman