Disabled Christians’ Fellowship Ireland
Trustees Annual Report
Period 1[st] January 2023 to 31[st] December 2023
Trustees Annual Report
Charity – Disabled Christians Fellowship Ireland also known as DCFI.
NI charity reference – 102596
Principal address – 6 Kinallen Court, Kinallen, Dromara, BT25 2DX.
Introduction
Registered as a charity on 15[th] July 2015, this, fourth report of the trustees of DCFI covers the period 1[st] January 2023 to 31[st] December 2023 .
Structure, objects and Trustees
DCFI is a trust established under a deed dated 7[th] January 2004. Under the Deed of Trust there is provision for a General Committee made up of at least 3 serving trustees and nontrustee members nominated by each of the active branches. The General Committee appoints a Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary and meets in January, May and September each year.
During the period of this report, after very difficult previous year, the following Branches have closed: Newcastle and Armagh. Any funds remaining in their Bank accounts have been transferred to the General Account centrally in line with procedures. The Trustees and General Committee are aware that five other Branches, who previously expressed their concerns at being able to recommence meetings are planning, after prayerful consideration, to wind down their Branches in early 2024. These closures have been the result of the lasting impact of Covid 19 and the lack of new younger committee members to take over the work. At the end of 2023 the following Branches are still open although not all of them have been holding their usual monthly rallies. The following is a list of Branches at the end of 2023: Ballyclare, Ballymena, Bangor, Belfast South, Dungannon, Enniskillen, Foyle, Larne, Lisburn, Lurgan, Mid-Ulster, Newtownabbey and Omagh, .
The AIMS of DCFI as set out in its Deed of Trust are as follows:
Purpose 1: - To advance the Christian religion in accordance with the doctrinal basis set out in the Schedule hereto, particularly amongst people with physical sensory and learning disabilities.
Purpose 2: - To work for the relief of such people regardless of race or religion.
These purposes are being advanced by means of our monthly member rallies which are attended by a range of persons with various forms and or degrees of disability.
Under the Deed of Trust there shall be not more than 10 and not less than 4 trustees, new trustees shall be appointed by the existing trustees. During the period of this report the following persons served as trustees:
Beverly Annett, Wesley Barr, Marie Nesbit, David Watson.
Public Benefit Statement
The trustees confirm that they have regard to the Commission’s public benefit requirement, none of the trustees receive remuneration. The main activity takes place under the auspices of the monthly member rallies during the period September to June each year and across all our branches we estimate several hundred members attend although numbers have been severely impacted by COVID 19 . Some branches also arrange outings or if possible help arrange respite for some of their members. We also value the contribution of our volunteer helpers without whom our branches could not function.
A key commitment of DCFI is to facilitate members taking respite/holidays by providing financial assistance towards the cost of transport e.g., taxi fares or other relevant out of pocket expenses. This financial assistance has been made possible by means of a ‘legacy fund’. A small number of members availed of this assistance in 2023.
Financial Review
It is encouraging to report that DCFI does not carry any deficits in its accounts. At the end of December 2023, the balances in the charity’s accounts were as follows:
General Account --. £51,081
Legacy Account --. £50,984
Signed: Beverly Annett Signed: David Watson Dated: 22/03/2024