Glenclare Friendship Group
Charity number 102702
Trustees Report August 2024
The trustees of Glenclare Friendship Group are pleased to submit their Report and Accounts for the period from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024. The trustees who served during this period are:
-
Jennifer Slane, Chairperson
-
Anne Cassidy, Vice Chairperson
-
Geraldine Morrison, Treasurer
-
Rose Crozier, Secretary
Charity purposes
The Club was established to promote community development, and advance education for the older inhabitants of Glenavy and Feumore and its environs (hereinafter called the area of benefit)
1) Provide facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation, or other leisure time occupation with the objective of improving the conditions of life for older people.
2) Raise awareness among the public of needs and experiences of older people in the area of benefit.
3) Provide and secure the provision of educational and recreational facilities, welfare rights advice and information to the members.
4) Provide information on matters of health and social welfare and refer older people in need of professional assistance to the relevant statutory or voluntary agencies.
5) Organise or assist in organising meetings, talks, classes, and exhibitions with the object of improving the conditions of life of the said inhabitants.
Public Benefit
The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s Public benefit requirement statutory guidance, and can confirm that the group has delivered the following benefit to the public:
1.Raised awareness in the wider community of the needs of our older citizens.
-
Advanced education and the promotion of health amongst older people. The benefit is evidenced by members learning new skills and being made aware of the health benefits of being more active daily to prevent falls.
-
Provided recreational and social activities for older people, helping to address loneliness and social isolation. This benefit evidenced by feedback from our members who report much enjoyment by participating in new activities, and improved community life by meeting and making new friends.
Activities and achievements
Below is a summary of charitable activities carried out by the charity to further its purposes for the public benefit:
We started the year with an outing to Brownlow House in Lurgan. We used our own cars to ferry 25 people to this event. It was very interesting for members regarding the historical significance and the role played during WWII.
Our reminiscing was taken a step further and enhanced by a visit from our member Deirdre Cahalane’s husband, Mr Brian Cahalane, who enthralled us with a slideshow and thrilling story about his family history. We followed this with a visit from BBC Archives helping to revive our memories of the show-bands heydays.
Our Halloween celebration involved members dressing up and having lunch – we provided a light lunch and apple tart for 29 members.
Our Christmas arts and crafts consisted of wreath making, decorating candles and making table centres – 30 members participated. Christmas Lunch involved an outing to Lily’s restaurant in Glenavy for lunch. 27 members attended.
20 of our members attended the annual tea dance held in the Island Civic Centre, Lisburn, hosted by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.
Our getting more active and healthy activities involved 4 Boccia ball sessions, 3 chair yoga sessions and 3 visits from a Foot Hygienist. 15-20 members participated in these activities.
Artwork continued with approximately 15 members getting involved in painting supervised by our own in-house artist Seamus. Thank you to Seamus for his continuing support.
In February we welcomed the Spring with a lovely visit from Blackberry Farm with some of their animals. This was new for us and brought real joy and excitement.
Our Growing Project really took off in the spring and kept us busy into the summer. Even though we stopped meetings at the end of Jun some members looked after the plants during the summer – thanks to everyone involved. 25 members got involved planting 3 raised beds with vegetables: peas, chard, onions, leeks, lettuce, spring onions, carrots and beetroot. We also planted 20 grow bags of potatoes. Many members had never been involved in growing their own. It has been a very enjoyable experience, getting us out in the fresh air and active and it has encouraged some members to start growing their own at home.
Our knitting and crochet activity continued throughout the year with many baby blankets, hats and cardigans given to charitable causes. We even encouraged a few members to learn how to crochet. In May several members attended a display of tapestries in St Catherine’s Church, Aldergrove.
At the end of May we surveyed our members to get a feel for how we were doing, if it was making a difference and to hear what else they might like to be doing to inform our plans going forward. We got an endorsement of the mix of activities including our Growing project and some asked for other experiences like pottery and pyrography!
Our summer event was held in June and consisted of a visit to the Seamus Heaney Homeplace – 21 members attended. We hired 2 minibuses from South Antrim Community Transport. The visit included a light lunch of soup and sandwiches, and the event was enjoyed by all.
At the start of July we celebrated a significant birthday when one of our esteemed longstanding members turned 90. 35 members were present, and we enjoyed a fantastic afternoon tea in the hall.