2024-08-31-annual-report - Holywood Family Trust

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Holywood Family Trust (A company limited by guarantee)

Trustee Annual Report for the year ended 31 August 2024

Company Registration Number NI050431 Registered Charity Number NIC103344 (Northern Ireland)

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST - 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

Contents Page Legal and Administrative Information 3 Trustees Report 4

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST – 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

CHARITY NAME Holywood Family Trust (HFT) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER NIC103344 COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER NI50431 TRUSTEES/DIRECTORS I Wilson (Chairperson) M Watson (Treasurer) E Smyrl (Deputy Chairperson) R McCullough (Director) S Morrison (Director start date 26.11.24) NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Liam McCusker COMPANY SECRETARY S Moore SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM N Dornan A Fitzsimmons (Resigned 11.11.24) REGISTERED OFFICE & 1 08 High Street BUSINESS ADDRESS Holywood County Down BT18 9HW AUDITOR Brian Stewart RBCA Ltd Linenhall Exchange 26 Linenhall Street Belfast BT2 8BG BANKERS Danske Bank Donegall Square West Belfast Co. Antrim BT1 6JS

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST - 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

The trustees present their 20[th] annual report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2024. In compliance with charity law, the Directors are referred to as trustees in this report.

Structure, governance and trustees

Holywood Family Trust (HFT), which is accepted as a charity by HM Revenue & Customs, was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in Northern Ireland on 28 April 2004, registration number NI50431, with the objective of undertaking charitable activities for the benefit of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.

In the event of the Charity being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10 each.

The first trustees were appointed by the members. Additional and replacement trustees are appointed by a simple majority resolution of the board or members. Trustees do not have a term of office and are not subject to retirement by rotation or re-election.

The trustees at 31 August 2024, who served for the entire year unless otherwise stated, are listed on page 3.

Statement of trustees' responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for preparing the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the net income or expenditure of the Charity for the year. In preparing these financial statements the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
prepare the financial statements on the going-concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.

They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

We are thankful to our resilient, dedicated staff members and volunteers who have diligently, and consistently worked to ensure we continued to provide our services. We are also thankful to our funders, partners and supporters who have enabled us to have another successful and productive year.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST – 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

Risk management

Area specific risk assessments have been undertaken that included, the fire risks faced in the premises, Child Protection and Adults at Risk of Harm procedures.

HFT Managers report quarterly to the Board of trustees, regarding issues of Adult and Child Safeguarding, Accidents and Incidents, Health and Safety checks and any legal requirements. A Risk Register is updated annually. Data Protection policies and procedures are reviewed annually and are in line with GDPR legislation that was introduced in 2018.

Contracts of employment with disciplinary and grievance procedures are in place for staff members. Trustee Indemnity Insurance was in place for the current financial year.

Review of year

HFT continued to develop programmes in line with its charitable purposes and public benefit statement as outlined to the Charities Commission NI.

Public Benefit

The benefit from our first purpose is the provision of local (often free) services for socially disadvantaged or vulnerable adults, at risk young people and children within the North Down, Ards and Greater Belfast areas.

These lead to: improved child development/family support; better mental well-being and health; reduced anti-social behaviour; better social inclusion; cultural awareness and improved aspirations. The outputs and outcomes are independently monitored and assessed by a range of funding bodies including the Department for Communities, the Department of Health, the Education Authority, the Public Health Agency and the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust.

The benefit of our second purpose is improved: early years’ development; better parental support; reduced social isolation; better social and communication skills on the part of young people; improved cultural understanding; acceptance of diversity; greater community participation and environmental awareness through the provision of services to adults, young people and children in the wider North Down and Ards community.

This is demonstrated both by client feedback and a range of monitoring and evaluation reports provided to the grant funding bodies such as the Education Authority and the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust.

The benefit of our final purpose is better mental health and emotional well-being, healthier lifestyles and enhanced personal development through the provision of local services to adults and young people within the wider North Down, Ards and Greater Belfast community. This is evidenced by client evaluations, monitoring and evaluation reports provided to and assessed by grant funding bodies including the Public Health Agency and the Department of Health.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST - 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

The charitable purpose and benefits continue to shape HFT’s strategic objectives and operational priorities of how we achieve our goals, which are summarised as:

Provision of high-quality childcare for families and youth activities for young people (including at risk young people).
Provision of activities and services which assist in the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing of individuals.
Provision of educational learning activities to help socially disadvantaged people make healthier choices and to train Staff and Volunteers.
Facilitation of activities and events that promote social inclusion of the entire community and create reconciliation and community development opportunities.
Participation in networks and working in partnerships to achieve these aims.

1. Provision of high-quality childcare for families and youth activities for young people (including those at risk).

1.1 HFT’s Childcare Project

Holywood After School Club (HASC) has continued its service, ensuring the delivery of a reliable and quality childcare provision.

We offered 5,900 childcare places, through 264 sessions, over 46 weeks in the reporting year. This catered for 70 children from 50 families and we continued to support children with special needs whilst bringing together children and families from 3 Primary Schools. We provided holiday childcare places during school closures and responded to local need and provided childcare for Asylum families from Holywood Resettlement Group.

During the year we continued to be part funded by the Education Authority’s Bright Start Programme, which aims to support families in need and increase childcare places. We also received the HSCB Small Grant.

Redburn & Loughview Parent and Toddler Group . HFT has continued to manage this project within our Childcare project. In April 2023 we took over the Group that had run for 18 years in the heart of the community in Redburn Community Centre. We cater for pre-school children and their parents and carers. The numbers attending have grown to 46 members. The group runs twice a week and offered 66 sessions over 33 weeks in the reporting period.

1.2 HFT’s Youth project, Holywood Youth Centre (HYC) continued to maintain our provision of local

Youth work services, through securing Education Authority (EA) Area Funding. This report spans the first and second year of the funding scheme started in 2023. During this reporting period HYC delivered 4 weekly evening generic/group work sessions for young people aged 8-18 years old and afternoon provision across 2 days. This allowed HYC to provide young people from our catchment area, with safe, structured and supervised youth activities that allowed for healthy growth and development, regardless of race, class, or creed. We achieved this through:

Continuing to deliver and develop a generic youth work provision that is relationship based and creates a safe environment for a wide range of young people.
Delivering targeted programmes and opportunities that met the assessed needs of local young people and EA local assessment of need.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST – 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

Providing opportunities that supported young people to live a healthier lifestyle.
Continuing to provide a centralised and accessible structure to our youth work provision, for a wide range of young people, especially those considered ‘at-risk’.

A sample of the work undertaken by HYC this year included:

Local area youth provision. We delivered 209 generic face-to-face youth work sessions, engaging 256 young people, aged 8-18 years over 50 weeks.
Parallel to generic provision, we delivered 311 targeted Programmes and Workshops in key areas, including:
Learning and achieving through: OCN Level 2’s in Youth Work; Leadership Training and Creative Media Training. OCN Level 1 Internet Safety Training.
Inclusion, diversity and equality of opportunity through: inclusion and diversity activities and awareness raising about local and global issues.
Participation through: Junior Leaders Group; Youth Forum; Volunteering opportunities and community activities.
Good relations through: providing CRED, opportunities to meet and learn from different local communities; taking young people on international exchange trips (Berlin and Basque) and hosting international groups.
Living in safety and stability through: one-to-one mentoring programmes, provision and access to food and hygiene products.
Health and wellbeing through: arts, craft, creative activities; sports; fitness; outdoor learning opportunities; mental health/wellbeing activities; sexual health workshops; healthy relationships programmes and healthy eating.
Arts and Crafts
Health and Fitness
Healthy Eating and Cookery
Emotional Intelligence and Understanding Emotions.
Increasing our online provision through: Facebook; Twitter and Instagram. Where we shared successes, delivered projects, communicated with young people and promoted opportunities for young people.
Conducting a local area Youth Needs Assessments. In January-March 2024, we gathered responses from 64 young people. This ensured we understood the needs of young people and the youth provision they require. From this we provided a varied, needs-based programme of personal development activities, workshops and support for young people who are considered most at risk within our community.
Leading the delivery of an Education Authority funded T:BUC Summer Camps Good Relations project, engaging 27 young people from a variety of backgrounds, that included a 2-day residential opportunity.
Adapting and continuing to deliver our Youth Forum and Junior Leaders programmes within HYC, giving 22 young people opportunities to promote active citizenship.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST - 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

Continuing to deliver lunch-time outreach in Priory Integrated College to develop relationships with young people, engage them in discussion and promote our services. Throughout this year we delivered 73 outreach sessions and engaged 44 pupils.
Delivering Personal Development for Mutual Understanding curriculum classes in Knocknagoney Primary School, delivering 16 lessons, engaging 60 pupils.
Providing one-to-one mentoring for higher risk young people at times of need. Over this year 11 young people have been provided with 44 mentoring sessions.
Securing additional funding through EA Small Grants to deliver additional, youth-led activities. We provided 15 activities and engaged 20 young people.
Achieving outstanding grading from EA Moderations during the reporting period.
1.3 HFT’s Youth ENGAGE project (EA Tackling Paramilitarism Programme TPP) has been running since 2019, targeting young people from Kilcooley, Clandeboye, Conlig and Holywood, who are at higher risk of paramilitary influence or impact. This report spans year two of funding secured in April 2021 and another year of funding secured in April 2024. ENGAGE has 1 full-time staff member, 1 part-time staff member. Activities we provided included:
Delivering 92 weekly group work session and programme sessions working with 28 individuals at risk of paramilitary impact of influence, in areas including mental health, wellbeing, justice, drug misuse awareness and lawfulness.
Completing 87 one-to-one mentoring sessions for 16 at-risk young people, focusing on areas including family, healthy lifestyles, losing parents, mental health struggles, court cases, drug addiction and paramilitary influence.
Supporting the delivery of 76 outreach sessions in in Bangor, Kilcooley and Holywood.
1.4 HFT’s Young People Leading Change (YPLC) Project continued to deliver peer-led projects across NI and internationally, that provided young people with the opportunity to improve their leadership skills while building their understanding of how to deal with difference.
YPLC delivered 12 Good Relation themed projects, in partnership with Netball NI, Ulster Badminton and Ulster Hockey. This included facilitation of sessions/workshops themes such as: identity; stereotypes; community; healthy relationships; team building; communication skills and their hopes for the future of Northern Ireland. Sessions were carried out in Holywood, Belfast, Lurgan, Craigavon, Derry/Londonderry and Coleraine.

The Childcare and Youth projects were supported by funders, grants and donations listed in the notes to the financial statements.

2. Provision of activities and services which assist in the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being of individuals.

2.1 HFT’s Counselling Project, HFT Community Counselling (HFTCC) has sustained our service through another challenging year, and we have experienced a marked increase in referrals and clients accessing our services.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST – 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

We have maintained our adult counselling service organisation accreditation with the British Association of Counsellors and Physiotherapists (BACP). The accreditation level is for

organisations that operate to the high standards outlined for counselling service providers and was the fifth service in Northern Ireland to hold this accreditation.

HFTCC continues to be a vital resource for community and primary carers alike. Our Public Health Agency (PHA) funding was renewed in April 2024, along with additional Service Pressure funding. This has enabled us to provide services to improve the emotional health and well-being of many people in North Down, Ards and Greater Belfast areas. We have continued to support service users through a hybrid provision of face to face, telephone and online Counselling sessions.

Through this reporting period we continued with the Department of Health, Mental Health Fund that started in January 2022 administered by the Community Foundation. The funding enabled us to increase our counselling sessions, develop wellbeing workshops, support the BAME community and volunteer and student counsellor development.

Some of HFTCC’s achievements this year included:

Providing 2809 counselling sessions for adults and youth counselling sessions. Youth Counselling was provided through partnerships with RelateNI, uHub, The Net and the Big House. Client support calls were also provided.
Supporting clients, with a range of issues including: trauma; depression; anxiety; bereavement; stress; abuse; relationships; self-esteem; domestic violence; anger management; self-harm and addiction.
Ensuring the development of our staff and volunteer team through a wide range of individual supervision, training and professional development opportunities. This included: Stress, Anxiety and Depression Awareness; Suicide Awareness; Understanding Trauma; Risk Management; Couple Counselling; Bereavement; Keeping Adults Safe Training and Mental Health First Aid.
Supporting a dedicated team of 6 part-time Staff Counsellors, 1 Volunteer Counsellors and 8 Sessional Counsellors.

Feedback from clients and service users has continued to be very positive, they have expressed their gratitude to all involved in the work, and indicated that the service has been invaluable to them.

2.2 HFT’s Caring and Social Action Project

The project has supported individuals and families in Holywood, North Down and Greater Belfast, by providing food and essential supplies, 86 families.

This has included providing Christmas Hampers to 42 families (186 individuals) in need, in December 2024.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST - 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

The project has been supported by Lidl, Storehouse Food Bank Bangor, Holywood Shared Town, Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) and Hygiene Bank NI.

3. Provision of educational learning activities to help socially disadvantaged people make healthier choices and to train Staff and Volunteers.

We continued to support and encourage developing a Learning Community and our three main projects provided external training opportunities as well as held a range of in-house training and team building

activities. These included: First Aid; Safeguarding Children, Adults at Risk Safeguarding; Trauma/Resilience, Autism Training, GDPR, OCNNI Level 2/3 Youth Leadership, Risk Management, Fire Safety, and Food Hygiene.

4. Facilitation of activities and events that promote social inclusion of the entire community and create reconciliation and community development opportunities.

Community Development through :

Staff members participating in a range of activities and sessions to help increase local capacity building and community development with statutory agencies and community/faith groups.
This year we continued to act as an umbrella organisation for AccessNI and supported 3 groups requiring vetting and barring checks for their Staff and Volunteers. We achieved another 3 years accreditation with AccessNI as an Umbrella Body in January 2024.
A range of networks and events were supported in the area during the year that included: The Education Authority’s Local and Regional Advisory Groups, Holywood Town Advisory Group, South East Trust Community of Interest for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention Group.
Our projects engaged over 33 Volunteers and have continued to implement best practice when engaging volunteers, through our ‘Investing in Volunteers’ Accreditation. We facilitated an organisation wide Volunteer Recognition Week in June 2024.

5. Participation in networks and work in partnerships to achieve these aims.

Networks and Partnership working continued to help to increase our overall capacity in delivering services.

We continued to work with Government Bodies, Community Organisations, Schools, PSNI, Faith Based Organisations, Youth Groups, Churches and the Residents Association.

HFT’s trustees would like to recognise and acknowledge:

The generous donations, grants and funding support received during the year from the organisations referenced and listed in notes 2, 3 and 6 to these financial statements. These funds and grants have enabled the Staff team and Volunteers to make a number of significant achievements.
The fantastic contribution that our volunteers made during the year in every aspect of HFT’s work.

HOLYWOOD FAMILY TRUST – 2024 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 (CONTINUED)

The non-monetary gifts in kind that were given to provide regular weekly food, hampers and support to families and individuals in need or through outreach work carried out by HFT by:
Christian Fellowship Church
Tesco and Lidl Stores through Fareshare/Foodcloud
Storehouse Food Bank, Bangor
Hygiene Bank NI
Holywood Family Trust are grateful to Holywood Christian Fellowship Church for renting their premises to us to carry out our charitable work.

Financial Review

During the year the total income was £589,728 (Restated 2023: £440,971) and expenditure £550,179 (Restated 2023: £514,316) resulting in a net surplus of £39,549 (2023: (£73,345)). At the year end the balance of restricted funds held was £2 and unrestricted funds held was £333,346. Unrestricted designated funds are held in order to ensure adequate cash flow during months where income is reduced, due to the seasonal nature of the Charity's activities.

Unrestricted reserves

The Charity aims to maintain unrestricted funds and reserves that equates to between 25% and 50% of annual running cost overheads and administration. This provides sufficient funds to cover any unforeseen costs that may arise as well as allowing for the payment of any liabilities that would crystallise if the Charity ceases to operate.

Signed by order of the Board