2023-03-31-annual-report

Youth With A Mission NORTHERN IRELAND

Trustees Annual Report for

YOUTH WITH A MISSION (NI) LTD

for year ending 31[st ] March 2023

Charity Registration No. NIC101261

Youth With A Mission NI Ltd 44 Shore Road Rostrevor County Down BT34 3ET Northern Ireland

Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

44 Shore Road | Rostrevor, Newry, Co. Down BT34 3ET | Northern Ireland [phone] | [e-mail] | www.ywamireland.org

Companies House UK Reg. No: NI029316. Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC101261

Trustees Annual Report Youth With A Mission (NI) Ltd 1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023

CHARITY DETAILS

Company Registration No . NI029316

Charity Registration No . NIC101261

Directors:

Mr S C Sotomayor Mr J R Clark Miss L E Lammardo Mr M K Oman Mr R I Clarke Mr S Mayers Mr D G Hines

Company Secretary:

Mr W S Nicora

Registered Office:

AnCuan 44 Shore Road Rostrevor County Down BT34 3ET Northern Ireland

Youth With A Mission NI Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered with the Companies House UK on 7[th] March 1995, and a charity registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland on 15[th] December 2014.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

The main activity of the charity is the advancement of the Christian faith. The Directors aim to reach the youth through residential discipleship training programmes, co-operative programmes with local churches and communities, the undertaking of various initiatives and the development of international missions’ opportunities.

During the period, the Board of Trustees have operated according to their governing documents and their provisions (Memorandum & Articles of Association, Memorandum of Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding) as well as the current guidelines from the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland.

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES

The charity set up in 1995 maintains oversight over the work of YWAM NI across Northern Ireland. During the reporting period, YWAM NI operated in six main locations: Rostrevor, Belfast, Enniskillen, Newry, Derry/Londonderry, and Bangor.

YWAM in Rostrevor

An Cuan Centre

The centre based in Rostrevor continued to be a hub that promoted reconciliation, a place of Christian spiritual renewal, a missionary training centre, and a focal point for community building for local people in the South Down area and beyond. This was done through several community events and initiatives that were run throughout the year.

In this last year the centre ran English clubs, worship nights, art clubs for children, a Harvest festival, a multicultural family camp, and a summer youth camp. It was also one of the central locations during a village-wide festival, Fiddlers Green. An Cuan was one of the main stages for the musical events and also ran a cafe that served as a gathering spot throughout the festival. An Cuan Centre continued to connect with the surrounding community not only through hosting and running various events, but also by participating in community programs such as youth clubs and church services.

Border Walk

In the Summer of 2022, YWAM Rostrevor ran the 10[th] annual Border Walk outreach. The outreach was international - it brought together people throughout the island, as well as people from overseas. The group walked for 200 miles, praying

44 Shore Road | Rostrevor, Newry, Co. Down BT34 3ET | Northern Ireland [phone] | [e-mail] | www.ywamireland.org

Companies House UK Reg. No: NI029316. Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC101261

for healing throughout the land and connecting with communities along the border. Relationships between participants and communities along the border were strengthened, and it was a powerful and impactful experience for all involved.

Training Programmes

From March 2022-August 2022 An Cuan ran an international Discipleship Training School (DTS) with 4 trainees, and ran another DTS from January 2023-May 2023 with 6 trainees. Both schools went on outreach to the centre’s focus nation, Albania, and Wales where they served with various ministries.

YWAM in Belfast

YWAM Belfast activities included:

• Community-focused events like hosting a warm space for those affected by the Cost of Living, Belfast Plus and Community Nights for those in the area to connect and network.

• Hosting events like the Joy Seminar which offers teaching on the psychology and physiological effects of joy and positivity,

• lead our annual peace prayer walk on the 11[th] and 12[th] of July,

• Co-hosting a monthly open mic night.

• Co-leading a school uniform project as well as winter coats events for those in need.

• Leading a yearly prayer project focused on community support in winter.

• Hosting several short-term teams from Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the US and connected them with our partners to do volunteer work in Belfast.

• Partnering with various organisations in our city and volunteered to support their programmes in youth work, refugee tutoring, Food Banks, support well-being for university students and participate in local summer schemes. Our charity offered an internship programme for two participants and trained them on community work with an emphasis on peace and reconciliation.

Our members teach English to migrants at a local primary school, offer coaching, and lead peace tours around the area we operate in. One of our members also serves on the National Leadership Team for YWAM Ireland and another oversees Safeguarding.

All these things are done with the intention of building up local communities and serving them in a way that brings life and connection to Belfast.

YWAM in Enniskillen

During the reporting period, YWAM in Enniskillen was involved in a number of ministries and projects.

• Helped to organise and lead the Borderwalk.

• Ran a small Discipleship Training School with 3 trainees, with a local outreach phase working with churches in Dungannon and Lurgan. 1 trainee was sponsored from Lebanon. Another trainee started a local Bible study after the course, which we have since been assisting.

• Hosted the YWAM Ireland staff gathering, inviting Bryan Carey as the speaker from Peace Catalyst International in Sarajevo.

• Prison ministry over the border in Blacklion.

• Running a local event called Hats Off, in Taco Loco, a Mexican restaurant in town.

• Our staff team grew from 3 to 6 in this period. Individually there were ministry or teaching trips to Rostrevor, England, Mexico, Bosnia, Lebanon, South Africa, Uganda and Swaziland.

• Maintaining our property and gardens at Water's Edge.

YWAM in Newry

Fringe Coffee Co. is the first major project undertaken by YWAM Newry. Due to the negative effects of the pandemic in society, they felt the importance of creating a platform that encourages human connection within an outdoor context in the Newry area. The vision of this newly formed team is to develop their own locally roasted coffee that can be sold both online and at local locations, and to eventually expand into a mobilised coffee truck and a physical building with the addition of an Arts & Media centre. During the reporting period they've continued to grow their social enterprise by creating temporary on-site coffee shop events while maintaining their roastery and acquiring a caravan to transform into a mobile unit easier to travel and gather revenue.

YWAM in Derry/Londonderry

Activities of YWAM Oak Grove (Derry/Londonderry) during the period included:

• Prayer walks around the walls of the city and the peace bridge.

• Hosting small groups for short presentations and discussions on Christian life.

• Leading worship and teaching 15-20 women weekly during a 6-week programme called Women of Worth.

• Leading a young adult discipleship small group.

• Hosting YWAM teams.

• Serving alongside Youth Initiatives.

• Organising a worship event in the Guildhall Square to mark the completion of Borderwalk 2022.

44 Shore Road | Rostrevor, Newry, Co. Down BT34 3ET | Northern Ireland

[phone] | [e-mail] | www.ywamireland.org

Companies House UK Reg. No: NI029316. Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC101261

• A Christmas outreach - Trees of Hope project - hosting trees at the NW Transportation Hub and two local shopping. centres and collecting and distributing 406 prayer tags to 8 churches in the city.

• Continuing to build relationships with local churches and ministries to facilitate future ministry partnership opportunities.

YWAM in Bangor

YWAM in Bangor is a ministry focused on member care & hospitality, coaching and discipleship. They continued to host several long-term missionaries for rest, restoration and debriefing. They also coached several people the past year across the island of Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America. One of their staff is trained in Addicted Behaviour and she mentored several people with alcohol addiction in AA meetings and other settings.

FINANCES

Youth With A Mission continues to display both innovation and flexibility in fundraising by keeping overheads low and operating on a small budget. It has enabled YWAM NI Ltd to continue to carry out the mission and provide important services to the wider community despite the continued economic challenges facing the country.

Our annual accounts have been compiled following the appropriate accounting policies which are consistent with previous financial statements. We can confirm that, to the best of our knowledge, YWAM NI Ltd undertook the responsibility to keep appropriate books, records, documents, and information and provided and disclosed any information and documents needed by the Independent examiner to produce a fair and true Financial Report for the period.

Fundraising

Whenever fundraising was needed, YWAM NI Ltd took the necessary steps to fully comply with the fundraising standards and procedures provided by the current guidelines from the Charity Commission NI. We are not members, but we follow standard fundraising practise, specially from Fundraising Standard Board. All our fundraising happens during public meetings so the people who donate are known to us. We are open and transparent with the money we receive,

Reserves Policy

YWAM NI Ltd seeks to operate within its means and to set aside savings as reserves whenever possible. However, we do recognise that without a current mortgage, and with a staff membership made up of unpaid voluntary workers, our expenditure is considerably lower than many charities. We therefore have decided that it is not necessary to set aside financial resources for the time being when there is a need for current financial stability. This policy is re-evaluated annually as we seek for the best way to keep some funds in reserve for future need.

SUMMARY

As in previous years, we are pleased that our work is growing and becoming more crucial in Northern Ireland, throughout the island of Ireland and around the world.

On behalf of Youth With A Mission NI Ltd:

Mr Scott C Sotomayor Chair of Trustees September 11[th] , 2023

Walter S Nicora Secretary 11/09/2023

44 Shore Road | Rostrevor, Newry, Co. Down BT34 3ET | Northern Ireland [phone] | [e-mail] | www.ywamireland.org

Companies House UK Reg. No: NI029316. Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC101261