Belfast Interface Pro'ect Acom an limited b arantee ort of the Trustees includin Directors, Re ort for the Year Lnded 31 March 2023 The trustees, who are also directors of the charitable coinpany for the purposes of company law. are pleased to PTesent their report with the auth'ted financial statements of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2023. which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors, report and accounts for company and charity law purposes. The ttustees have adopted the provisions of the Charities SORP (FRS 102) (2nd edition - October 2019) 'Accounting and Reportingi by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). (cff¢ctive l January 2019) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charitable company. REFERENCE AND ADIVIINISTRATIVE DETAILS Company Regi8tration number N1067459 (Northern Ireland) HMRC Charity Registration number XR41089 Charity Commission for NI Registration number NIC103356 Principal and Registered office C,athedral Quarter Managed Workspace 109-113 Royal Avenue Belfast Co. Antiim BTI IFF Trustees The trustees who servcd the charitable company during the year and up to the date of approval were as follows., mla Morgan Rev Bill Shaw OBE Muriel Bowyer Bernie Mcconnell Aisling Carhnill Geny Mcclory Ed Petersen Ashok Shanna Gerry Skclton Sam White Gerry O'Reilly Paddy O'Donnell Mark Arthur Chairperson Deputy Chair Treasurer (appointed year ended 31 March 2023) CompAny Secretary Bernic Nlcconnell Acting Practice Co-ordinator Paul Smith Page I
Belfast Interface Pro'ect Acom an limited b uarantee Re ort of the Trustees includin Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 Mareh 2023 ort - continued REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS eontinued Auditor Grace Taggart CG Taggart Accountancy Services Chartered Accountant & Statutory Auditor 17 CJT)ress c.rescent Donaghad¢c Co I)own BT21 OQG Banker8 Bank of Ireland 4 - 8 High Street Belfast BTI 2BA STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Belfast Interface Project (BIP) was established in 1995 and beCne a manbership organisation in 2000. It Currently has a meinbership of 49 community gyroups from nationalist and unionist interface areas of Belfast as w¢ll as 16 associate and 12 individual members. Governing document Belfast Iiitcrface Project forn7 a company limited by guarantee, with company number N1067459 on 7 Decanber 2007 and is accepted as a Charity by HMRC under reference XR41089. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association and is governed undcr its Articles of Association. The assets and liabilities of the charity were transfen'ed to the company on l April 2008. Our Memorandum and Articles of Association was updated, agreed by the Charity Commission for NI and adopted by the Board and membership at our AGM on 17 February 2017. Recruitment and Appointment of BoArd of Directors The directors of the company are also charity trustees for the pU05¢S of charity law and under the company's Articles are known as members of the Board of Directors. Under the requirements of the MeMoldum and Articles of Association the m¢mbcrs of the Board are elected to serve for a period of three yews. They may be re-elected at the next Annual General Meeting. Organisational structure Belfast Interface Project has a Board of Directors of up to 21 members who meet at le&st eight times a y&gr and are responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity. At present the Board has 13 members and is made up of cominuiiity group representatives. individual and associate members. Finance sub-group made up of Maria Morgan, Muriel Bowyer, Bernie Mcconnell. Rev Bill Shaw, the PTactice Co-ordinator and the Finance Manager meets as and when required. The day-to-day management and opcration of activitics is carried out by staff lcd by the Acting Practice Co-ordinator who reports regularly to the Board. Risk Management The Board has assessed the major risks to whtch the charitable company is exposed, in partioular those related to its operations and finances, and systems and proceduTes have been establithed to mitigatc those risks. Page 2
Belfast Interface Pro'ect Acom an limited b arantee ort of the Trustees ineludin Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 ort - continued Risk Management continued An ongoing risk for the charitable company is in relation to its membership of the North¢rn Ireland Charitics Pension Scheme, a defined benefit scheme which was closed to new members in 2009. The scheme has accrued a deficit which to date has been managed through agreed monthly repayment ternis which are scheduled to run until March 2028. The deficit had reduced significantly over recent years. The charitablc company was in regular conv¢rsation with The Pensions Trnst around the status of the deficit and had agreed a very manageable payment plan. A court c&se is set for January 2024. The finance managFer is in r¢gular contact with The Pensions Trust who are overseeing th¢ repayment sGh¢me. The Board has taken a number of actions to mitigate the risk. including working ill partnership with other Organisations making up the NI Charities Pension Scheme and accessing expert pension advice. The Community ToolkitlApp went live to the public in September 2023. It has been Tendered matketable throughout the sector and potentially across the public and statutory spectrum. A 10 week training programme has been designed to complcm¢nt the toolkit, providing instruction and training on its multiple functionalities and th&'eby increasing potential fidraISing and generating additional financial resources. B TP has been using individual aspects of the platforni to deliver recent programmes such as "Shared Futures Futu1¢ Building" to youtlilcominunity groups across B¢lfast, while continuing to develop its potential with groups engaged in the "Peoples and Communities" project. Covid-19 continues to be a serious problem. The charitable company will continu¢ to address the negative impact of the virus by obscrving all gFuidelines and iinpleinenting recoinmended health and safety proc¢dures. We will continue to follow governmeiit gyuidance. Remote working arrangements remain an option if necessary and IT equipm¢nt has been upgyraded to cop¢ if necessary, including a 'Zoom' conferencing facility. BIP will continue to assess matters and address the needs of the OlElISatiOn with regards to Covid 19 where necessary. BIP and our parthers al Anllnolph were abl¢ to design the community planning toolkit technology to be adaptable to Covid 19, usingy the various coinpose, comrnunicate and collaborate functions to enabl¢ groups andjor inultipl¢ gTOUP and individual inta'action, if the ii¢¢d for sociaI distancing arises again. PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT The trustees have complied with the duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's statutory guidance on the public benefit requirement issued under the Charities Act (Nl) 2008. OBJECTIVES AI¥D ACTIVITIES Belfast Interface Projec¢ fornied more than 25 years ago, has a long history of participative work in pcac¢ building, reconciliation and conflict transformation across our city's numeTOUS interface areas. Th¢ following are the Vision, Purpose, Values and Principles of the charitable company: Vision Our vision is of interface communities being transfornied; becoming PTosperous, ¢onfident and cohesive. Embracing new and emerging technologies Bclfast Interface Project has been exploring the use of virtual and augrnented reality to future-build and enable co-creation planning for positive change. While employing a unique coinmunity planning toolkit embracing an ethos of conjrnunication, co-operation and collaboration. B¢lfa5t Intctface Projcct has and will r¢main conllnitted to challge reflectsve of the (h'veisity of our society and the residents in Belfast's interface coi]]muniti¢s. Purpose Our purpose is to act as a catalyst for change, empowering and supporting interface cotntnunities. Value3 and Prineiples Our Core values are integrity, trust and mutual respect which allow us to work in parthership with a shared ownership of issues and solutions. Page 3
Belfast Interface Pro'ect Acom an limited b uarantee Re ort of the Trnstees includin Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 ort - continued OBJECTIVES AND AcfIviTtES conlinued The strategic objectives include.. Strategic Aim l.. Policy.. To work with local communities to infomi, develop and chall¢nge interface policy deveIopment that is of practical benefit to Interface communities. Strategic Aim 2.. Advocacy: To act as an independent voice for interface cornmunities Strategic Aim 3: Transforniation; Being a Catalyst for Change Strategic Aim 4: Empowement: Building Capacity and Confidence Strategic Aim 5: Building a Resilient Organisation During 2022-2023 th¢ Board of DirectOTS' duties have included continuing to oversee the following tasks: The r¢stni¢turing of BIP that began in 2010 continues to evolve. This in part is due to both external resourc¢s and internal re-focusing on key areas of work. This approach has allowed BIP to begin slowly expanding outside of the Belfast area and has included significant pi'oject work in DerrylLondondeny. We have adjusted our staffing requirements and they now reflect our current needs and the econoiniclfunding climate in Northern Ireland. The Acting Practice c.o-ordinator will oversee the running of all projects and a Finance and Admin manager will oversee the day to day runningy of the offic¢. Our Strategic and Operational Plan of 201512020 required revising in line with its time limitation and natural progression. Our Strategic and Operational Plan for 202112025 takes into consideration the Current cconoiniclfunding climate to establish a inore focused implementation strategy. Having successfully concluded our previous plan with the recruitment of new staff and the establishinent of new projects in interface areas. the new 4 year strat¢8y will focus on building a resilient organisation, while maintaining our core themes including Policy, Advocacy, Conflict Trdnsfonnation and Comjnunity Empowern]ent. In 2021 BIP, in partnership with Cooperation Ire1]d, successfully tcnd¢red for a Sp¢cial EU Prog7iamme Body (SEUPB) contract, as well as a successful application to The National Lottery "People and Community" fund, to develop the Community Toolkit across Bclfast. The SEUPB project was compl¢t¢d Success]IY in June 2023. The Peoples and communities project funded by the Nationaj Lottery will be completed at the end of March 2024. New applications will be submitted to National Lottery and IFI by the end of Octobcr 2023. Along with our partner groups an application will b¢ subinitted to SEUPB to continue th¢ developmentldesign of the platforni. When applicable, we will submit an application to CRC for core funding. We will continue to resource and furthei. develop our innovative and ground-breaking augiin¢ntcd reality project (Coinmunity Toolkit), continually looking at new ways to remove, ameliorate or re-classify interface barriers while exploring the possibilities for the toolkit in other settings such as rural areas. BIP are in the process of upgrading our network system, includxng data storage capabilities and broadband. We are in the process of finalising the funding for this project with Belfast City Council. It is to be thnded from BCC7. The value of the grant is £3.500. This will cover the cost of all works and equipment for the new system. A furtlier £5,000 was received from Halifax Foundation to help with running costs includiiig rent, tclephones etc. Wc have continued to deliver progratnmcs across the city with youth and community groups using the Shared Futures - Future Planning aspect of thc toolkit. Our parmers at Essex University have introduced our Con]munity Toolkit, which incidentally is being developed through our Shared Futures projecL to Essex County Council. They hav¢ expressed an interest ill the project and ar¢ debating its possible uses. We are still waiting a fina] decision on the possibility of a pilot scheme. Page 4
Belfast Interface Pro'ect Acom limited b uarantee ort of the Trustees includin Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 Marcb 2023 ort - continued ORIECTIVES AfiD ACTIVITIES colltinued In 2021-2022 BIP was commisgioned by the North Belfast Distsi¢t Policing & Community Safety Partnership to cary out a piece of research on illterfacc violence and anti-social behaviour. This included an olllin¢ SueY and one to one interviews with local community workers. Professor Peter Bloom of Essex University, partner on this projcct. was coinmission¢d to do the dcskwork and collate the information. This project was completed by 3110512022. The Final report was published in June 2022. Our "Shared Futur¢s" projec( which was chosen by CRC to bc profiled on their website as one of the projects that benefit¢d from CRC small grants funding can be viewed on their website. This is a great advertisingy score for the project and follows on from similar pieces, done over the past year. We have engaged with other media outlets to prornote the project. This highlights the excellent work being carried out in interface areas by workers fi'om Belfasi Interface Project. We have had requests for further short documentary style projects highlighting the toolkit from the BBC and Green shoots media. We continu¢ to investigate the possibilities. BIP has and will continu¢ to assist in managing mediation, conflict management, mentoring initiatives and developincnt programmes with our community partners and city-wide membeiship. We have delivered numerous training sessions in many interface areas across Belfast which has been enabled by additional funding successfully secured from Belfast City Council Capacity Building grants. BIP has also maintained its membership as an ind¢pendent directorlBoard member on a number of key social economy and training developments including SKAINOS, Cromac Regeneration Initiativ¢, Templemore Avenue School Trnst and TIDES Training, thus seeking to find a long-tenn roadmap towards a future where the necessity for interface barriers is reduced ov¢r time and employment and education opportunities are enhanced. BIP continucs to engage with key public and statutory organisations including Belfast City Council (BCC), The Executive Office (TEO), Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), Departtnent of Justice {DoJ) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). BIP is also engaging with a number of councils including Dery c.ity Council and community orbyanisations, such as St Columbs Park House and Belfast Unemployed Resourc¢ Centre to further develop our regional capacity. BIP continues to lobby the DOJ and a number of other statutory organisations to encourage them to use BIP'S cluster map of interfaces in the city, "Interface Barriers, Peacelines and Defensive Architccture" an update of our previous research, "Bclf<iSt Interfaces.. Security Barriers and Use of Defensive Use of Space" This research will support tlie implementation of a template to establish a number of interface cluster partnerships through our youth intervention projects aimed at young people involved in interface violence and disaffected or disengaged from their communities. FINANCIAL REVIEW Financial Position The accounts on pages 12 - 14 d¢al with all the income and expenditure of th¢ charitable company, as well as its financial position at the year end. They show an overall surplus for the year of £4,094 (2022: surplus £2,361), being a surplus of £30,407 (2022: surplus £9,704) in restricted fimds and a deficit of £26,313 (2022: deficit £7,343) in unrestricted fids. Overall, reserves are in SUluS by £55,022 (2022.. £50,928) with a surplus in restricted fimds of £46,414 (2022.. £16.007) and a surplus of £8,608 (2022: £34,921) in unrestricted fund& which includes a provision in respect of the NI Charities Pension Schcme deficit of £2.731 (2022: £3.441). Without the provigion imStrIcted reserves would be in surplus by £11,339 (2022: £38,362). Page 5
Belfast Interface Pro ect Acom an limited b uarantee ort of the Trustees includin Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 ort - continued FINANCIAL REVIEW eontinued Principal Funding Sources Core funding in this year wn¢ from Belfast City Council Capacity Building grant. Additional revenue and i'unning costs plus programmatic work and research were funded by a numbeT of other grants including The National Lottery. The Executive Office and Co-operation Ireland. Opportuiiities for the delivery of fee- earning services, both charitable and non-charitable, were taken up as th¢y arosc. We Continue to source funding opportunities as and when the opportunity presents itself. Reserves policy The Trustees, policy is to retain a level of unrestricted reserves which provides reasonable assurance of the resilicncc and sustainability of th¢ cliarity in uncertain times. Theii" aim is to have wirestricted reserves of three months core salarÉ¢s, pellsions and running costs, plus a redundancy reserve. This would equate to approximately £13,000. Acttiaj reserves at 31 March 2023 are £8,608 (2022.. £34,921), which includes a provision of £2,731 (2022.. £3,441 } in i'espect of the NI Charities Pension Schane. Without this provision. reserves would stand at £11,339 (2022: £38.362). W¢ are currently s¢eking to bring in additional unrestricted funding to bring resmtes into line with our policy. This will include rev¢nue fi'om training, Inediation and facilitation projects. tenders and manageinent fees for partnered projects Én cominunities and other contract incLime. Going concern After making appropriate enquiries, the ttustccs have a reasonable expectation that the charitable company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for th¢ foreseeable future. For this reason. they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS BIP currently has a number of projects approved for funding and they are at various stages of delivery going foiward over the next year. l. Over the next year BIP will continue to develop our inter-generational Virtual and Augmented Reality Platfonn/Game, thnding permitting. We will continue to focus on "at risk" or "hard to reach" young people in North, South. East and West Belfast. We will continue to develop our coinmunity toolkit and Shared Futures project which has been funded until 31103124 from the National Lotteri¢s ' Pcoplcs and Coiwnunities Fund, and will engage with community groups across Belfast and in DerrylLondondery. 2. BIP remains committed in the coming year to membership and support for the E3 Multi Agency Group, Civic Society Network and T'.BUC consultation forums and will deliver a TEO funded Civic Innovation project to maximise collaboi'ation and encourage other agencies to play a role in the interface inv¢slment programme. BIP will utilise its cornmunity planning tooll(it to develop a"Living with Covid" community support plan at regional level. 3. Through the QUB Psychology Dept. we exp¢ct to have an internship placement and also cxpect at least l international student placement. In 2022 we hosted a group of 22 students from the Diplomatic studies Progrdmme at Oxford Unxversity at our offices in central B¢lfast. We will welcome them again in 2023. Pag¢ 6
Belfast Interfaee Pro Acom an limited b ect uarantee Re ort of the Trustees includin Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 ort - ¢onlinued PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS conlinued 4. BIP in partnership with Essex University 2nd Animorph Cooperalive are in the process of wmpleting fimding applications to IFI and National Lottery to continue the developinent of the Community toolkit. An application in partncrship with Cooperation Ireland, Essex Univei'sity and Anim0h, will be submitted to SEUPB to expand the Future Innovators project and to aid the continued development of the Sliared futures Platfornl. To this end, all expression of interest has b¢¢n submitted. 5. BIP will continu¢ to source funding from relevant fimders for future projects and support. We have plans to submit applications to TEO for next year's tran¢he for personal development projects aimed at young people disengaged from the resp¢ctiv¢ int¢rface cornmuniti¢s. 6. BIP will apply to CRC for wre funding to support running costs and shortfall in salaries when the new tranche op¢ns again before the end of 2023. Over the next few years our new strategic and operational plan (202112025) will continue to address positive progFress towards reconciliation, conflict transformation and barrier rn0Val in Bclfast. and regionally where possible. We will endeavour to see this supported by Awards for All, CRC, TEO, DFA, SEUPB, The National Lottery and Peac¢+ grants for our developinental and capacily buildiiib probiramme for th¢ future in all our areas of work. Staff inembers have completed or are presently studying a number of courses including youth and coinmullity Studies and business mallag¢m¢nt. Pag¢ 7
Belfast Interface Pro ect Acom anv limited b uarantee ort of the Trustees includitto Directors, Re for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 ort - continued STATFMV,NT OF TRUSTEES? RESPONSIBILITIF,S The trustees (who also the dIrect'S vf Belfasl Tnterface Project for the Purposes of coinpany law) are responsible for prepaiingy the Report of the I'rustees and the finaijcial ,8tat¢ments iii accordance witji applicdblc law lJnited Kiiigdoirl Accouiiting Standards (Ilnired Kiv]gdoin Generally AcLepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the tNstees to prepare fin1claI stateinents for each financial year which bytv¢ a tru¢ and fair v2ew of the Stale of affairs of th¢ ehwitable conip8ny and of the incoinillbi resouire5 aiid application of irsources, includin&7 tlie incoine and ekpeiidilui'c, of the charitabl¢ coinpwiy for tliat ye&.. In prepwing those fin]Cial stateincnts. th¢ trustees ar¢ r¢quii'ed to sele¢l siiitable accouiitinby l)olicies atid then apply thein consistenily. obseive th¢ metliods and piincipl¢s in tlie Cliurity SORP 2019 (l¥RS102)' make judsjthneiits ]d estiinates that are re&%oiiable &id prndent. state wli¢ther applicable United Kingdo]n Accoiinliti8 Standards have been follow¢iL subject to any material departhres disclosed and explained in the financial stateinents. and pi'epaE th¢ fmanciaj stateineiits on the g70ll? concern basAS unless it is inappropria* to pi'esuine tl)at the charitable ¢oinpany will contillue in opfflmtion. The trustees are respoiisibl¢ for keeping adequate accouiitin8 records that are sufficient to show and ¢xplain the charitable coinp•iy's transaclions and disclose with i'e&sonable ac¢ui'acy at any time the financial position of ihe charilable MplY and endble Iliem io ensui'¢ tliat ilie financial slatemaits Coinply with tlie Coinpanies Act 2(106. They are also responsible for safeguarding die llssets of tlie Lliaritable company m)d hence for taking reasonable steps for the preve21tion wid delcctioii of fraud ¥l1)d oth. irregililaritics. The trustees are responsible for the maint¢nwice and integiity of the coryorate &id financial infoiination includcd the company's websit¢. Each of the pwsons who is a tsust¢¢ at thc date of approval of this r¢port confinns that.. So far as each trustee is awarq there is no relevant audit infomiation of which the ¢haritable company's auditor is unaww'e. wid each trLEStee has taken all steps tliat they ought to have takthi to mak¢ thnselVeS awai'e of aiiy relevant audit infonnation and to establisli that the cliaritable coinpai)y's auditor is aW.e of that information. AUDrroR T]ie charitable cojnpany re-tendered for aiiditors ld Grace Taggart of CG Taggart Accountancy S¢Tvices was re-appointed for a further period of tlirc¢ years (year ends 2021, 2022 & 20?3), witli the optioii to extend the t¢m by } additional two yeary one of which has been confirnied. This report been prepared in accoi'dance witli the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 i'elating to small companies. AppTov¢d by ord&. of the board of trustees on l O Octob¢i' 2021 and signed on Èts belialf by.. Bcrnie McCollneIl - Company Secretary Page 8