Belfast Domestic Mission for the Poor of Belfast
Trustees Report Year ended 31 March 2025
-
1 Belfast Domestic Mission for the Poor of Belfast (known as Belfast Domestic Mission or the Mission) was established in 1852, to help alleviate poverty, support Sunday Schools and discussion groups and provide practical support to those in need. This is the public benefit we promote. There is no harm or private benefit from our purposes and we have had regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit requirement statutory guidance.
-
2 Our Charity Number is 103374. Trustees registered with the Charity Commission are Rev Chris Hudson, Ms Monica Burns and the NSPCI Trustees Company (namely, Rev Robert McKee). The official address of the Mission is All Souls’ Church, 5 Elmwood Avenue, Belfast BT9 6AZ
-
3 The Trustees are happy to report that earlier commitments to significantly expand the spending of the Mission are progressing, allowing us to provide support to individuals in need.
-
4 Donations to Sunday Schools which are still operational in the denomination continued and to the North Belfast Book Fund, to purchase books to disburse to children of disadvantaged families. Disbursement by the Trustees on an ad hoc basis of £25 TESCO vouchers continued until March 2025, as did purchase of 30 x £30 TESCO vouchers monthly for use and disbursement by the People’s Kitchen.
-
5 In February 2025, due to challenges faced by TESCO in relation to money laundering, this made the purchase of multiple gift cards per month impossible. After a prolonged series of discussions with a range of supermarkets in north Belfast (TESCO, Lidl and Sainsbury’s) a new arrangement was arrived at with Lidl to purchase a year’s worth of vouchers, all to the value of £30, and for 30 of these to be activated each month and given to the People’s Kitchen for distribution / disbursement. We are grateful to Lidl for being both supportive of the idea of providing some limited autonomy to poor families through the vouchers and for offering a discount on the cost to the Mission, by us paying for a year’s worth of vouchers upfront at a cost of £10,263.50 (instead of £10,800). The first batch of 30 x £30 vouchers was delivered to people’s Kitchen in April 2025 (having paid the account on 27.03.25, just before the end of the financial year).
-
6 The Trustees agreed in December 2024 that the arrangement with Peoples Kitchen will be reviewed in July 2025 and, if it has been shown to be effective and useful, will continue as long as our accounts permit. Trustees are conscious that that the bank balance we inherited was reflective of very limited outgoings or activity in the preceding years and that our commitment to spending down the surplus is time and resource limited.
-
7 The Mission received M&G dividends of £6199 as well as Department for Communities dividends of £147, £170 from an All Souls’ fundraiser, and £74 in interest from the bank. The bank balance of the Mission at the end of the financial year was £13,881, as noted in the accompanying accounts
-
8 The Trustees held two meetings during the year (in May and December 2024). Communication with those members who are frail and unwell continues by phone and, for those with access, by email.
-
9 At its meeting of 06.12.24, the Trustees agreed that we would no longer individually hold gift vouchers for disbursement, as this has led to awkward situations where some people in need presume we have an unending supply. The only exception to this will be before Christmas, when four families and individuals already known to the Trustees will be given vouchers to help with expenses.
-
10 Our commitment to support the poor of Belfast, specifically in north Belfast where the charity was first founded and operational, continues. On receipt of referrals from organisations such as Welcome and People’s Kitchen, we support individuals who are being provided with housing with white goods, heating oil, beds and crockery as necessary. In financial year 2024 – 2025 we spent £13,056.88 on 12 individuals and families on this aspect of our activities.
Signed on behalf of NSPCI Trustees
Monica Burns