KILLOWEN AND CHURCHLANDS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION (KACCA) ANNUAL REPORT FOR FINANCIAL YEAR ## MARCH 31ST 2022- MARCH 31ST 2023 This report was presented to the trustees /group members as a résumé of actvites for the above year and accepted as a fair report of the actvites carried out. This association is a small group consisting of about 15-20 members of which 10 -12 are very active. There are only two female members - female membership is being encouraged but is proving difficult. Funding unfortunately is reducing year on year and other fund raising may need to be looked at over the next financial year. Perhaps run a few in house funding activities. Volunteers are suffering "burn out" unfortunately and recruitment and retention is becoming difficult. Available grants do help with resources which volunteers have been providing with their own finances at times. The group unfortunately lost 3 very strong active members during Covid.It has been difficult to encourage people to engage in activities after Covid as there is still a fear of meeting in groups even though precautions are in place. Meetings usually( x12)are held monthly except during the month of December and July . The committee meets during these holiday months to attend to any business arising This fi n a n c i a l year has been r e a s o n a b l y quiet year so far. As the group has only a small membership so projects which are undertaken have to be achievable and realistic as well as time bound and involving little cost. Grants , while available, are becoming very difficult to obtain and this hinders any real projects .Only achievable tasks /projects are undertaken. There is a surplus shown in accounts over the year but this is has already been nearly all earmarked for use for a few projects during the next few months. The income this financial year again has been mainly grant funding from several funders to which we are grateful . T h e s e have been used up by way of group insurance and hall rent and some other projects. No other income has been generated - apart from grants and one anonymous donation. This has somewhat hindered n e w development of activities. Any excess was/will be paid out of group reserves/donations. The group concerns itself with mainly environmental issues and drop in chats and attempts to make the area more pleasant for all inhabitants. Most of these projects involved on average 10-15 active members - mainly older age bracket but not exclusively. Some of the main activities are listed below:- - encourage footfall back to "normality " after isolation of Covid - regular area clean ups in conjunction with KEEP NORTHERN IRELAND CLEAN/ ADOPT A SPOT! - litter patrols to educate especially young people - involves litter warden and PSNI - provision of more litter bins in designated areas/schools with local environmental services - worked with local council to provide extra dog litter bins - environmental health - checking on elderly inhabitants during severe weather ensuring they had enough food , delivering prescriptions, clearing pathways during bad weather etc - on -going delivery of "healthy man " talks/discussion/drop in chats - a follow - on history talk on "Old Killowen and the families " by local historian - men's health discussions/general first aid - talks on mental health issues and current cost of living problems - tttTalks by professional health persons aimed at the male health - - some very simple first aid training for the home - - talks by local history/ Ulster Scots personnel - - simple CPR training - recognizing a heart attack - immediate actions - - research on Street names in the immediate area- very little done so far no funding available - - post Covid meetings to engage with footfall again and encourage community meeting - - attendance only "suicide first aid" course -recognizing those at risk etc - - training in governance , running a meeting/ finance/ duties/planning/ funding - - "Heat , Greet and Meat !"- meal - get together. - - beetle drives / darts/ table games etc Most of these activities do not involve costs and are not a drain on limited financial resources. Some activities did attract funding to cover the event- some activities are planned for the future having received grant aid. The small membership is enthusiastic and continues to look for projects to help the community. Sometimes ideas are given to the group by local inhabitants and at other times the members themselves hold discussions to look at various possibilities for local improvement. The main thrust is to make the local people take pride in their surroundings and take ownership of their area and to encourage social activities to the level of pre- Covid Funding does hinder developing of larger projects proving difficult to resource. Without the presence of funding aid to pay Insurance and rent it may become more difficult in the future to provide larger realistic projects for the group. Thanks again due to funders enabling this to happen so far. However members remain optimistic for the future and continue to try and develop new ideas for community action ## COMPILED/ACCEPTED BY GROUP SECTY FOR TRUSTEES / GROUP MEMBERS - Robert McIlreavy -Acting Chair / Secty Dated :-04/03/23