January – December 2022 Trustee Annual Report
The trustees of Dromore Youth for Christ are pleased to submit their report and accounts for the period of 1st January - 31st December 2022. Dromore Youth for Christ otherwise known as ‘The Base’ is a youth organisation based in Dromore. DYFC seeks to demonstrate Gods love to young people, transforming their lives and inspiring them to follow Him.
We continue deliver high quality youth work programmes alongside the local schools, churches and like-minded organisations as well as a wide range of programmes and activities within ‘The Base Youth Centre’ in the heart of Dromore.
Our vision is that young people from all backgrounds are part of a community of people who value them, respect them, empower, educate and support them in whatever life puts before them. Our hope is that they will encounter Jesus, grow to be like Him and become the best that they can be. The charity’s beneficiaries are young people aged between 11-18, those young people on the margins of Dromore’s community, churches, volunteers, staff, parents, schools and partner organisations.
Public Benefit Report
In 2022:
We worked with 250 young people across the centre-based work, schools work and detached outreach. A decline to the previous year due to a change in staffing and closure whilst appointing a new Centre Coordinator.
At the end of 2021, Josh Thornbury the Centre Coordinator resigned from his position and we decided to appoint Robyn Calvert our part-time staff member, to Centre Coordinator in the interim until we were able to hire. Robyn coordinated programmes from January-June 2022. Robyn then resigned leaving us vacant with no staff to continue programmes. We had to close the centre until we could employ. In October 2022 we appointed Lynne Denner as our new full-time Centre Coordinator.
Centre based/ detached outreach work
January-June
Robyn and the volunteers did a great job coordinating youth work programmes in the centre continuing core programmes. Junior drop-in on Tuesday evenings for 11–14-year-olds and Senior drop-in for young people 14-18years on Friday evenings 7-10pm. These two programmes were key in continuing to develop relationships with new and existing young people. Drop-in is key in providing a safe and supportive space for young people to socialise with their peers. Both drop-ins thrived in numbers and the volunteer introduced lots of activities as part of the programme such as baking, art, social action projects and sport.
The team also continued to undertake detached outreach which again really supported these programmes. Detached outreach is when the team in uniformed coats went around the local Dromore community engaging with young people wherever they choose to socialise. The team came across a lot of the young people who attend the centre under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The team engaged a number of new young people and those considered at risk, signposting them to local youth provision or relevant services.
November-December
Lynne the new Centre Coordinator then restarted junior and senior drop-in on Tuesday evenings 7- 9pm for year 8-10’s and Friday evenings 7-10pm for year 11-14’s. Both were well attended with a lot of the previous young people returning and some new faces. This was a real encouragement that despite the extended break over the summer months into autumn they still wanted to attend the centre. Great connections and relationships were formed and these initial months were used to assess need amongst the young people and hear their perspectives, for a new programme launch in January 2023.
Schools work
School’s work in Dromore High School, which is a big aspect of the work of The Base- took a temporary break from January-June until a new centre coordinator was hired. This was due to the time constraints on the acting coordinators schedule. When the new coordinator started in October 2022, as it was half way through term 1 and they needed time for meetings and community profiling, this didn’t resume until January 2023. The school were extremely understanding of this and we ensure good communication with the principle through this process.
We did however undertake a programme in Dromore Central Primary School responding to need around anxiety amongst pupils in regards to transitioning from primary to secondary school. We delivered six-week programmes exploring the change they were about to experience, equipping them with resilience skills and knowledge to support them in managing this transition well. We also were involved in JUMP, the schools Christian programme after school in partnership with other local agencies/ Churches. Approximately 150 pupils gather each week for bible stories, worship, games and activities so it has been a privilege to be a part of this.
Financial Review
This year saw the finish of the refurbishment of the building and the funding stream return to something like would reasonably be expected. The donations dropped by over 50% due to the building being finished and the donations only being required for core running costs. Expenditure also dropped significantly and the deficit of £4645, in the year, this being funded by reserves. Clearly the challenge for 2023 is to increase the monthly giving and source additional grants.
Proposed by: John Wilkinson
Seconded by: Anna Kissick
Approved and adopted by a meeting of the Board of Trustees on 20/06/2024 and signed on their behalf:
R.Masters____
(Chairperson)