Accord Northern Ireland Catholic Marriage Care Service
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directovs Report) (continufjd)
Year ended 31 Ma￿h 2021
Strueturfy governanee #nd mallAgemellt
Accord Nl bas centres across N. Ireland with its Re8iOD210ffi¢¢ based in Belfa8L This yeaT the company
Ily operdtionai with a centsal administration, ac(x)unt payment priwscs were effectivety
implemented and reviewed. In 2020121, th¢ company had 2 ￿11 time Ind 3 part-time employees, 56
volunteexs and 6 in trnilling. Th¢ Board of Tnjstees met on a quarterly basis and the day to day operations
have been delegated to th¢ r¢gioDal director. Accord Nortbern Irelalld CLG Catholic MaTriage Care Service
has 9 regional centres in Belfasl Derry. Arn￿814 Newry, Maghry oma￿ BallyllLen4 Enniskillen and
Downpatrick. 8n outreach eelrtre, in Coleraine and a Regional Office in Belf&st.
Objectives and *ctlviti
Accord is an agency of the Catholic Chur¢h providing a service to couplcg prepanng foT or seeking a
deeper eomjnittnent withill tkn Sacramart of Marriage. Accord's setvices ate open to all regardless of
faith, d¢nomination or non¢. Services are provide& based on client ueed rkthu than ability to pay. tn the
marriage edu¢alion programme we emtM)wer couples to explore and reflect on the ￿ential elements of
their marriage and the PUTpose and value of their choices within a Committ￿ relationship. Accord
specialises in [nter-C￿￿cb ll￿riage pr¢pardtion and works with clergy from the other main denorninations.
Accotd'5 Wst primary relationships and sexualiry education servie¢ - Ix)ve Matters. _ developed in
partnership with the CCEA is under review. It is a progrdmme for young people aged I I to 16 years to help
them develop safe and fillfilling r¢lationships. RelatioELship ClmDsellillg is provided for couples as w¢U as
individuals in a couple r¢lationship in a carmg and confidentsai maDn¢r.
People who benefit from ow work are",
Those whose ability to communicate in maThiage is cnhanod in Dwriage preparatio
Those who learn through counselling to cope Wit￿ what oll their OW￿ would be ovtr-wbeltning
hallenges in their relationshi￿.
Those WILO avail of fhe fertility and wellbeing service.
The Chi](tr￿ patents alld *achers who beD¢fit from the pioneering work in ￿￿tiOnshipS 8nd sexuality
eth￿ati0tl in schools"
Those WIM) are h¢lp¢d through counselling to sepaTate amicably and to Min1￿ze the consequential
damage to their cbildren.

Accord Northern Ireland Catholic Marriage Care Servlce
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees. Annual Report {Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (coRtinu•dJ
Year ended 31 March 2021
Obje¢tives and activities
Accords coullselling service co]￿rIbut&S in a very positive way to the happin&5s and well-being of many
children. often very significantEy. wh¢n th¢ir par¢nts seek help in order to resolve their relationship
difficulties. This is even mot? critical for children living in sitLtstions of doinesti¢ viol¢n¢e or abuse. The
family is necessary for the stability of society as a unit in which cbildw the ￿tllre g¢ncrdtion, are
nurttwed, cared for amd Teared into adulthood. The reaction of parents to each other in their home
environment and the example children see set by them Shapes and mould5 to a great degree the pattenL8 of
thinking, feelitig artd behaviour of young people. The family gready coDtributes to and influences
personality developtllellt for children. As they grow. Children, thaw into themselves attitudes and styles of
life from around those persons living close to the1￿ they mirror the behaviour of others and frequently act
it out in their own lives. It follows frorn this that emotionally unhealthy or dysfunctional families find the
task of rearing and enabling children to be balanced and happy is quite challenging and difficult. Bccause
of the i]ntK)rtallce of the family for the Ixfe and w¢ll-b¢ing of society li is essential that Accord continues to
work to provid¢ th¢ n¢ctssary sup￿rtS to strengthen marriage and the family.
Accord's work falls within activities Mand￿ed by the Depath￿t of Health Family and Children's Policy
Directorate. Ill addition, the alTh￿ of the organisation dovetail with and complimeni the Govemment's
Families Matter - Supporting Families in liolthern freland (2￿8). This strategy supports the aims and
objectives of another strdt¢gy-'Ollr Children and Young People, Our Pledge'_ whtch s¢ts out the vision for
improving support for families and ¢hildT¢n.
With I I locations throughout Northern JrelaTML Accord Nl Strives to ￿ as 2ccesgible &s possible 8nd io
reach out to those most ￿aTg￿a1tsed ID our society. The vast majority of people who avail from our
services could not afford couns¢lling within the private se¢tor. Au additio1￿1 diT¢Ct Een¢fii is tbat beipillg
faD]ilies to remain together reduc4s the cost to the exthequer.
Public Benefil
Th¢ m]5tr¢5 of Accord (ND have fiilly complied with th¢ Public Benefit Yequirements as set out irt the
Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's statutory guidance on public benefiL The main purpose of
Accord (ND is to sUp￿rt the f8n)ily and relaiionships and they do this by Providing marriage and
relationship counselling and facilitating pre marriage ¢OUTSes throughoutNorthern Ireland.
Strat¢gl¢ report
The following sections foT achievements perfornwlce. finartci￿ review and plalls for periods
fornh the strategic report of the thDty.

Accord Northern Ireland Catholic Marriage Care Service
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees, Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (L￿￿tt￿u9
Year ended 31 March 2021
Achievemellts gnd p¢rforJnallee
The economic hardship a￿{ social CODstraillts impowj by the Corottavln￿ pandemi¢ ¢hang¢d life for
everyone and caused significant th'Stre￿ to m#Triages. relationships and families. Many couples hkd to deal
with illn¢&s and loss, the UnCer￿nty of ernploymenl home-sch¢)oling and ￿Precedented levels of stress
and pre&sure. To help alleviate distr￿. a Covid-19 Emergency Couples Support Helpline became
opeiational, mallned by volunteer. acuedited ￿u￿sello[S. This proved to be a lifeline for people during
lockdown and the service was available Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm. This Supp)rt Helpline re5￿Trnded to
597 calls from indiv1th￿l5 and couples experierKing difficulti&S ll) their relatiollships. Accord Nl responded
iti the following ways=
For individuats living iti feat at home, Accord NI ¢ouTtselloEs were able to identify and handle domestic
abuse. In such situations the priority is th¢ safety of the fearful person and their children. Ac¢ord
sw?ported individuals to develop a safety plan and advised on specialist crisis S￿port CQDtacl numbers..
AccoTd Nt advised that, in g¢n¢rnl. Coupl￿ should ty aod k¢¢p th¢ lines of comrnuDication open with their
spouselpartner, be Conscio￿ of how they raise issues with their spous&p8rther, and be willing to look at
themselves and their bebaviow ID addition to their SE￿se1 paTtsierfs shortcomings.
When permitted aDd in compliance with Govemment health athice and gwdance. Accord Nl provided 861
[a¢¢-t￿f￿e counselliDg knuls. The orgaD]Sati0￿ during the ttme of incr¢ased r¢strictions, took steps to
millimtse the amount of its staff and volunteers tbat needed ￿ be physically in officeg. The Departrnent of
H￿1th is%ued a letter to Accord counsellors confimiing that they were catrying out an essential s¢rvice a&
slipulat¢d by the DepaTknent of Health Nl as a voluntary registered chatity part-fund¢d by DOH Accord
provides ¢oullKlling ￿ couples and individuals experienclng relationship diffi¢ults"e5 including domestic
abth￿. This wot* is especially needed in this unpr¥edented tiTne of stres5 and anxiety for couples and
familics. We alt particularly aware that the quality of couples. ￿latiOnshIpS is Itkely to deteTiorate (tllring
this time with an increased likelil￿0d that children will be exposed to unsafe behaviow in the home.,

Accord Northern Ireland Catholic Marriage Care Service
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (contsnua•
Year ended 31 March 2021
Acbievements 4nd perfornwi¢e Ir4wrtin¥rfé)
Accord NI embarked on a progt¢ssive progranjme to train ¢4)unsellors onlille couple counselling and
provide 2 safr and ethical internel platforn) for delivery of this service, in addition to fA¢e-tO-fac¢
cow)sellin& when po&gible. Protocols for online counsellin& and in preparntion for the rcopening of
face-￿-face COUDselling. were developed and all counsellors and adMin￿tratorS were trained to t￿qUre
publi¢ health gui(klines were 8dbthed to. This w&s also a time whell many couples wue Suffering the
dI￿ppOintment of having to postpone their weddings. Accord M￿lage Education Facilitators offered
support and deliv¢red marriage prepar￿10￿ to 905 couples. An adaptcd Virtual Interactive Marriage
Preparation course was developed for delivery by zoom confetencing and frdcih"tstors enthusitistically
engaged in the necessary training. Peer Support Groups have been established and extra administration has
been put in pla¢e to accommodatr hosting of courses. Every effort w&s made to aCcommo￿te eouple$
marrying up to March 2021 who were unable to acc￿ a facC-t¢￿fa¢e c4)urs¢. Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) for ¢OUDselloE4 alld facllitator5 was provided in the toltow￿8 areas,. th¢ adapt¢d
Virtyal Interactive Marrtage Prepard¢ion Progrrne, Couples & Rclationships Telephone Support and
Online Counselling. Research comtnissioned by Accord Nl Catholic NlaTriage Cate st￿lee to analys¢ the
Cu￿ent PTQViSiOll for Relationships and Sexuality Education in Catholic ￿st-prIMary schools An tbe
Northem Diweses of trelatt4t was submitted in a re[￿ in April 2020. Accord Nl had three prlncipal aitns
ill COTnmissioning the report:
To begin a cycle oereview of the Accord (NI) Re]atiorLships and Sexuality kntion programme and
resources that w¢r¢ first developed itl 2002. To analyse evidence sutTiciently enough to be able to forniulate
WQTkable suggestions for the way ab¢ad io ¢tha￿￿ng RSE provision in Catholi¢ sth(KTr]s in Northern
Ireland.
To co￿pIete a scoping report that id¢utifi¢$ th¢ Streng￿ aod ar￿ for developn)ent in th¢ provision
of Relationships and S¢xua]ity Educatio
To acbi¢v¢ these aiw il was thided that the approa¢b was ￿ undenakn a qualithiive srudy that
care￿IlY sampled the situation in seven rM)st-primary Catholic schools. There are two main reasons
behind this decision. Firsc qualitative reSea￿h allows for a ￿￿Te tn-d¢pth ¢xploration of the provision of
RSE. Rather than qllantlfyillg survey respojws or pr¢s¢nting tll¢asurable dats about student and t¢a¢h¢r
attitlths to RSE, the attention is on ￿COgniS1ng what different groupings within the school have to say
about this imporfant part of the curriculum. Second a qU￿ltatiVe approach allow￿ the research to be
fratned as a listenirLg ¢xercis¢ - conducted on be]Lalf of the Northern Bishops. A key goal was to listen
carefully to what teachery governors. YOW￿ ￿Ople and their parents hav¢ to say about RSE in their
Catho]ic school. This gave thc KseATch project an added pastoral dimension. As the research proceeded it
quickly be¢xme apparent that the schLN)Is involved valued the OPFKbrtunity lo be part of a rport that was
going ba¢k tt> their bishops. F￿USIng on a sample of seven schools &5 part of a qualitative research
investigation generdtrd a rich set of dat& It providas a timely and accurate snapshot of RSE in Catholic
post-primary schools in Northern Ireland.

Accord Northern Ireland Cathollc Marrlage Care Service
Company Llmlted by Guarantee
Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) (coftknuedj
Year ended 31 March 2021
FiDan¢iai revlew
AcLord Northern Ireland Mwriage Care SeThice obtains finance from a Thutllber of sources. prin)arily 8raot
support from the Department of HeaJiK TnaTriage preparntion Courses, counselling Contrib￿lOnS and
diocesan grdnts. Given the unAvotdable loss of contributions from clients and couples and in order to meet
ongoing costg, Accord Nl actively avaited of funding from thc D¢parlm¢nt for Communiti¢s to help
alleviate financial diffi¢ulties.
As of Ibt May 2016 the Accord Regional Offic¢ and the 9 centres ceased to operate individually and all
resources were transf¢tred into the bank accounts of Accord Northern ITeland Catholic Marriage Care
SeTvice. Since then. all fvnds have i*en lodged inio atsd all expenses have been paid from accounts
operated und¢T the uame of the Accord Nl CLG.

Accord Northern Ireland Catholic Marriage Care Service
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Directorfs Report) {rontinu￿)
Year ended 31 March 2021
Plans for futDre periods
In order to facilitate an effective online cout)selling servic¢ and ￿ntinue face-tfrface counselling. Accord
Nl will implement a seojre Case Management Systeln, thro￿ Couns¢1360. This system will provide.
A Global Calendar to replace centre appointment b(x)ks. enabling authorised stsff to quickly s¢¢ what
counselling sessions a￿ coming up, whicb completed sessiotts need to be UExlated 2nd importantly see
Counsellor and Centre availability-
Refe￿￿[ inforniation, captured once and avoidi￿g rekeying of the same infornmion into muhiple systems
{on papu, in the app)intmellt spreadskn}.
All client and case related documentstion scanlle4 up10￿ed and stored c¢ntrally in Counse1360, leading to
a reduction in paperwork a￿[ filing slorag¢ required.
Counsellor login and UFMJating of counselling sessions online via the system securely from any I1￿￿tiOn
wtth an internet connecti
Ease of rep)rting as all the dats is in on¢ ceDtrniised datsbase.
Supervision wsio]LS mattaged via the system ty t￿*Ure best practice coDwliarKe.
Accommodation oflM)th online coutL8elling and ]n-pe￿ counselling s&ssion& and m8n#gement of waitsng
lists.
GDPR £ouJpliance.
A ffview of the Accord Ma￿lage F¥eparafion Programme w&8 completed and the pilot of a Tevised
prowmme begon but had to be suspended in March 2020 thi¢ to Covid-19. Fina] recommendations will be
submitted to the Board of Directors for ratification. on completion of the piloL and training will be rolled
out for all Marriage Education Facilitators. A vtdeo ￿ supwt priests complettng the fin￿ stage of the
Marriage repatation Ptogramme is in prothKtion and will be nmde available througb diocesan strn¢ttJres.
Bookings for the Vi￿￿al Inth￿]Ve Marriage Preparation Progranm)e (12 progrnn]mes per month) will
continue until public hea]th guidance allows for the resumption of face-to-fact programm¢s. Peer Support
Groups are being established and extra thinitrdtion is being put in place to accommodat¢ hosting of
courses. Work on the revisiou of the following w>licie5 is neaTing ¢onwl¢tion.' Child SafeguardiDg.
Domestic Abuse, Adult Safeguarding and Complaints Handlllw.
Trnstets, responsibiiitles stsltement
The trustees, who are also directOT5 for the Pur[K￿ of Ix)mpany law, are responsible for preparing the
trustees, report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom
Accountttig Standards (United Km8dom GeneTrlly Accwd ACc4)u￿8 Pwtice).

Accord Northern Ireland Catholic Marriage Care Service
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees, Annual Report {Incorporatlng the Directorfs Report) (Gondnu•o)
Year ended 31 March 2021
co￿panY law requires the cFwity trustees to prw fiDancio15tat¢ments for each which give a true
and fairview of the state of affairs of the charitsble company a￿1 the inc4)n)itig r¢sour¢es and application of
resources, including the income and expenditur4 foT that peTiOd.
In preparing these fllrdncial statemenL% the tswtees ar¢ r¢quired io:
select suitable accoullting ￿11¢1¢5 and th¢D apply them consistendy"
observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP.
gtsie whether Applicable UK Accounting Statmlarth bav¢ been followe4 subject to any rnat¢Tial
departures disclos¢d and ¢xpl&in¢d in the financial stateM￿ts.
prepare the financial ststements on the going concern b￿lS it 1$ inappropriate to pr￿mIe that
the charity wiu coDlinue in IxLSiD¢SS.
The tnjstees aTe respollsibl¢ for ke￿illg adequate ￿0￿nting recoTds that are sufficient to show and explai
the charity's tra1￿CtionS and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the finAncial position of the
chatity and enable them io ensure tha( tbe fjnancial statements comply with the CoTnpanies Ad 2006. They
are also responsible for 5&feguarding the Lssets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the
prevention and d¢t¢ction of fraud aud oth¢r iTr¢guknti¢8.
Auditor
Earh of the persons who Is a tnjstee at the date of ap￿0¥aL of this rep(Mt confirlljs thatr.
so as they are awaY¢, th¢ff is no r¢l¢vkot audit infornjation of vthi¢h the charitys auditor is
unawLre' 2nd
they have takell all steps that they oU￿t to have taken as a kn￿tee to nmke themselves awar¢ of any
relevant audit inforrnation to establish thxt the ch8Tity's auditor is of that Inforn￿li01L
The ttustees, annual r¢port and the stTategic report weTE approved on 9 November 2021 and siglled on
behalf of the of t￿￿¢¢5 by:
Archbishop Eamon Martin
MTS Deirdre ORawe
Cknity Sccrei