Company registration number: N1035896 Charity registration number: NIC100657 Radio Cracker Ballymena IA company limtted by guarantee) Trustees Annual Report for the Year Ended 30 June 2023 clo D T Carson & Co 51- 53 Thomas Street Ballymena Co. Antrim BT43 6AZ Contents Reference and Adminlstrative Details Trustees, Report 4-14 Reference and Administrative Details Trustees Mrs M Allen Mr W Mccluggage Mr I Calderwood Mrs l Bailie MrWLaw Secretary Mrs l Bailie Principal Office c/0 D T Carson & Co 51- 53 Thomas Street Ballymena Co. Antrim BT43 6AZ Re8lstered Office clo D T Carson & Co 51- 53 Thomas Street Ballymena Co. Antrim BT43 6AZ The charity Is incorporated in Northern Ireland. Company Re8lstratlon Number N1035896 Charlty Reglstratlon Number NIC100657 Bankers First Trust Ballymena 78 Wellin8ton Street Ballymena Co Antrim BT43 6AF Independent Examiner Ryan McFaul DTCarson & Co 51- 53 Thomas Street Ballymena Co. Antrim BT43 6AZ 2023 Radio Cracker Ballymena Trustees Report for the Year ended 30th June 2023 Radio Cracker Ballymena {RCB) has been operating a charity radio station in Ballymena since the early 1990s, originally under the auspices of the CrackerTrust. It has been a company in its own right since 1998 (company registration number N10358961 and the organisation has full UK charitable status under the Northern Ireland Charities Commission NIC 100657. There are 5 trustees all based in the greater Ballymena area. Each year RCB asks for applications from charities for projects that support the purposes of RCB. In late Autumn the trustees of RCB meet to select projects across a range of activities that meet our purposes. All funds raised go to support the charities and projects selected at the start of the broadcast season in September, with sufficient monies being retained to pay any licence and performing rights fees for the following year. There are no salaried or paid expenses posts at RCB. AII of the helpers in Northern Ireland are unpaid volunteers. Each year approximately 120 people are involved in the main fundraising activities. As the name suggests, Radio Cracker Ballymena operated a radio station that broadcast on FM across the greater Ballymena area and over the internet during the 4-week period of Advent leading up to Christmas. RCB also ran a charity shop. which operated in November/December selling donated goods, bought in Christmas goods and a range of crafts handmade by RCB volunteers. In fulfilling the public benefit requirement, the charity trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission of Northern I￿land'S statutory guidance. The purposes of Radio Cracker continue to be: (l} To promote the Christian Faith, particularly by radio broadcasting among members of the Christian Churches and the Greater Ballymena Community. (21 To relieve poverty and sickness and thereby irnprove the life conditions of children. young people and the aged who are poor, sick, deprived or disabled in the Greater Ballymena area, and in any part of the world. .especially the Third World. (31 To promote such charitable purposes in any part of the world, and particularly. by encouraging young people in the Greater Ballymena area to workvoluntarily. to assist charities working in the Third World. We met each purpose as follows: Purpose11) by supplying some Gospel shows for our radio audience and by delivering a 'thought for the daw on our radio channel that had been put together by a group of local volunteers. and by posting a small Christian verse of the day on the RCB Facebook page. Purpose {21 by disbursing the funds raised to the projects detailed below. Purpose13) by running a competition across local primary schools to design the cover for our printed broadcast programme, by inviting local primary school choirs to deliver a weekday morning Christmas music slot broadcast across the radio channel and by inviting young people from some of the local schools and technical college to present a weekday music show on the radio. In 2022 / 2023, RCB provided £51,021 to support the following projects: £6,OCMJ for Second Sight which will be used to fund 300 cataract operations in Bihar State in India. £6,000 for Kids4School to provide 120 bicycles for children to get to school in Tanzania. £8,418 for EMMS Intsrnational for clean water projects at Mulomba & Thembe Health centres in Malawi. £5,400 for BREAD for Kenya to supply 36 rainwater tanks for homes in Tharaka village in Kenya. £3,003 for Samaritan's Purse towards 21 sewing machines for the Democratic Republic of Congo.. £8,550 for Fields of Lrfe to build a borehole in Uganda. £8,000 for E3 to supply a tractor in Zimbabwe. £5,400 for Mulyata Children's Mission to fit a security fence and guard hut around the hygiene station in Zambia. £250 for Mission Africa to provide mosquito nets. Here are more details on each of the registered international charities which Radio Cracker Ballymena supported from the funds donated in the year 2022/2023. Second Sight Dr Lucy Mathen, trustee of Second Sight, reported that the £6,000 we donated went towards full treatment of 300 cataract-blind patients (including village screenin& pre and post operative checks, intra-ocular surgery, food and accommodation) at BAMDAH MISSION HOSPITAL in Bihar, India. Bamdah is the only eye hospital in a huge swathe of central south Bihar offering comprehensive eye care for all. Most of the population are from tribal communities who are not viewed as priorities for government welfare schemes. The ophthalmologist in charge during 2022/2023 was Dr Samuel Murmu. He is a very experienced ophthalmologist who has been in Bamdah for over two decades. They offer surgery free of charge to people who have become blind from curable cataract Simply because they are too poor to pay for any medical treatment. In Bihar, still, the majority of workers are landless agricultural labourers existing on a daily wage. Kids4School With the Radio Cracker Ballymena donation of £6.(X)O Kids45chool were able to buy 120 bicycles for children in Tanzania. In Tanzania, if children pass their National Exam, they are allowed to progress on to secondary school, but the government chooses their school, and this could be miles away from their homes. Sometimes this is simply too far to walk. and they cannot accept their place. These bicycles will allow these children to further their education without having to worry about walking five miles to school and five miles back home again. In the photograph above you can see one such child, Paskolina. She travels 5 miles each way from her home to school. Before receiving her bike, she would wake at 5am to make it to school by 7am. She often ran to make it in time, but frequently reported late to class. Wtth her new bike, Paskolina now has time to help her mother, arrives at school on time and has time to study when she returns home. Emms International Our grant of £8,418 for Emms International was to supply clean water to 2 health centres in Malawi. For people in rural areas in Malawi it can be a big challenge to access clean water, even at their local health centresl Imagine not being able to wash your hands at your health centre because the tap doesn't work or having to wait almost an hour for your doctor to go to walk to the nearest well to fetch water or having to get cleaned up behind a rickety old bamboo fence with a bucket of river water after giving birth, like in the picture on the screen! Earlier this year Malawi faced the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded. Thanks to Radio Cracker and their other supporters, EMMS were able to act fast to respond to this crisis by giving vital access to water and sanitation facilities at health centres. This offered the best chance of tackling the cholera outbreak at source. curbing the spread of the disease and improving care for those who have al￿adY fallen sick. Clean water access at lomba Health Centre in Makjwi emms Renovations at each health centre include things like drilling boreholes; installing new solar water pumps, water pipes and taps in wards- sex-segregated toilets and handwashing facilities. BREAD for Kenya Radio Crackerfs donation of £5,400 to BREAD delivered 36 rainwater tanks for the people of Tharaka, a rural village in Kenya li BREAD fortarfy Since 2018 BREAD has received £24,6CMJ from Radio Cracker for their Water Tank Project which assists people in a rural area in Kenya called Tharaka. The women and children of Tharaka have to walk about 6 kilometres to the river, every day, to fetch dirty water. In contrast. BREAD'S large PVC water tanks when placed under the tin roof of a house collect 231x1 litres of clean rainwater. Those who have benefited are extremely grateful. So far Radio Cracker have funded about 350 water tanks. These tanks have saved women walking 210,OOOkm to the river to fetch water. Approximately 8(X),(X)O litres of clean rainwater have been collected. This Water Project has seen many benefits over the years with the health of Tharaka families being improved and saved from acute disease or worse. Samaritan's Purse Radio Cracker Ballymena provided £3,(X13 for Samaritans Purse to supply 21 sewing machines in Democratic Republic of Congo. The yellow building above is the Safe Space which is a component of the Safe Haven project. It is located in a camp for Internally Displaced Persons who have fled conflict. The Safe Space is used for livelihood training for vulnerable women, girls and boys. Support is also provided by 3 case workers for victims of gender-based violence. Many women just come to gather in the grass as a peaceful refuge from the IDP camp. The "stark" picture above is of a woman carrying a sack on her head and was taken from the front gate of the Safe Space looking out at the IDP camp. The picture helps to give a better understanding of how the Safe Space serves as an oasis in the midst of a desolate landscape. Tuishi kwa Amani ndani yaiamii I. The remaining picture is of a beneficiary practicing what she had been taught in sewing cla5S. Flelds of Llfe Our gift of £8,550 has helped Fields of Life provide a community well in Nakajete in Eastern Uganda. Nakaiete Community Well *f.183 E 33.96 Through the support of Radio Cracker Ballymena, the people of Nakajete village in the Butebo district of Eastern Uganda now have access to clean water. Who better to hear from that Paul Bigger Isiko, a bricklayer from the village who says: Clean water changes everythin¢. Paul Biger Isiko The CEO of Fields of Life, Tony Gaston, visited Uganda and reported back to Radio Cracker Ballymena on the successful completion of the community well project. rK4(Isiifiife He said: '1 would like to thank youfor pmviding a run71 community in Uganda with the life chonging gift of clean water. Thanks to you, o generotion of young people will no longer struggle of wolking o long distance to collect dirty woter., IOIPage of 14 'Instead they now have access to a clean and safe water source in their own village. What a transformation., Nakajete Community Well E3 Initiative Radio Cracker Ballymena provided £8,000 to the E3 Initiative for a tractor in Zimbabwe. The Pastors Connect Zimbabwe trartor is now ready for business! Agricultural projerts are helping people earn a living and put food on the table, but cultivating the land is hard work by hand, and takes many hours. IP-4tt4 4.. This tractor will speed up the preparation of the land and expand the farming for local pastors, Scripture Union Zimbabwe, and for 6(X) families who will be able to plant more corn and vegetables, so they have a sustainable source of food and income. This helps people achieve food security in their communities. Mulyata Chlldren's Mission Radio Cracker Ballymena provided £5,400 to fit a security fence and guard hut around the hygiene station in Zambia. c li*,. dren's rnlssion li The village of Mulyata is in a very rural location, situated off the main road from Kitwe to Mufilira in the Copperbelt region of Zambia, accessed via a 2-mile dirt track. As the name of the region suggests, this area is rich in copper deposits which are aggressively mined by Chinese companies who export the copper. It's unclear why the Mulyata settlement was established in its location - usually settlements are set up near roads where the people can trade with passing traffic, or near rivers or water sources where people can easily sustain themselves. Mulyata however is near none of these - and the most likely reason is the original settlers were poor and disenfranchised and essentially squatted on a piece of land that no-one was using. Over the years, the settlement ha5 increased in slze to around 2000 people or 250 families, all of whom live with limited access to water & food. no electricity, no employment & little hope. Since February 2020 the Mulyata Children's Mission have been able to provide one nutritious meal per day initially to 200 of the neediest children in the village- and as of July 2023- the mission now feeds 320 children per day. The donation from Radio Cracker Ballymena assisted with security infrastructure around the mission feeding station. The mission stores large quantities of food and equipment within the station and has become a target for theft from those living around the area. The mission employed 2 security guards but the lack of any boundary to 'defend' around the site, particularly during the hours of darkness was an issue. During periods when large numbers of children are on the site, they need to be confident that others around the area are denied entry to ensure a safe environment for the children. Additionally, the main community borehole was Stripped of its solar panels and pump & the medical clinic pharmacy was raided of its enti￿ contents, including medicines for malaria and HIV- a significant loss to the community & mission. The site is now fully fenced with vehicle gate5 creating a single point of access to the site along with a gatehouse, and the borehole is now fenced to prevent access to the storage tanks, solar panels and pumping equipment; while allowing unrestricted access to the water taps for the community to collect water. Mosquito Nets Radio Cracker Ballymena also provided £250 for mosquito nets for Mission Africa (founded in 1887 as the Qua Iboe Mission), who have partnered with the Lower Chogoria Foundation in Kenya to distribute the mosquito nets. For and on behalf of the Trustees Radio Cracker Ballymena- 18/412023 William McClugga8e Chairman 141Page of 14