Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group
Trustees, Annual Report
Year ended 31 March 2023
The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year
ended 31 March 2023.
Reference and admlnlstratlve detalls
Reglgtered charlty name
Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group
Charlty reglstratlon number
103386
Prlnclpal offlce
The trustees
Timea Galambos
Gerty McGlinn
Jimmy Law
Domnic Pinto
Marta Jozefowska
Rowena Barrun
Andrea de los Santos
Lorena Cassidy
Danuta Kelly
Christine Rodgers
Allan Rainey
Joni Beatty
(Appointed 28 July 2022)
{Resigned 28 July 2022)
(Resigned 28 July 20221
(Resigned 28 July 20221
(Appointed 28 July 2022)
(Appointed 28 July 2022)
Independent examlner
Nial Colhoun
Watson & Colhoun
Unit B15, Omagh Enterprise Centre
Great Northern Road
Omagh
County Tyrone
BT78 SLU

Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group
Trustees. Annual Report (contlnued)
Year ended 31 March 2023
Structure, governance and management
i) Governing docLJment
Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group {OECSG) was established in 1998
it} Recruitment and appointment of trustees
Trustees are appointed at each annual general meeting.
iii) Trustees induction and training
New members of OECSG Management Committee are provided with a copy of the Constitution and
policy document outlining the relevant responsibilities of Committee members and Office Holders. The
Manager of OECSG will ensure that new members are properly briefed and provided with the
necessary induction and training to carry out their duties.
iv) Risk managemenl
The major risk facing OECSG is the uncertainty over funding from government bodies which the
charity is dependent on. New streams of funding are constantly researched and sourced to enable our
work to continue.
vl Organisational struclure
At present there are nine trustees who serve on the management committee who meet on a regular
basis and are responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity as outlined in the
Constitution.
vil Related Parties
All Management Committee meetings include a conflict of interest obligation for members to declare
should it be required.
ObJectlv08 and actlvltles
The charity's objective and principal activity is to offer support to ethnic minority groups and their
supportive organisations primarily within the Omagh district area, but also including County Tyrone and
the whole of Northern Ireland. They do this by..
al Promoting good relations in Northern Ireland.,
bl Endeavouring to eliminate isolation and discrimination on the grounds of race in the area of benefit.,
and
cl Encouraging equality of opportunity within the area of benefit beMeen people of different racial
groups.
The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on
public benefit when reviewing the aims and objectives of the charity and in planning for future activities.

Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group
Trustees, Annual Report (contlnuedj
Year ended 31 March 2023
Achievements and performance
Overview
The period 2022-2023 has, unfortunately, been a time of continued political stalemate in Northern
Ireland due to the continued absence of the Executive and the Stormont Assembly. The absence of
political leadership and guidance presents a great many challenges throughout the community with the
impact especially challenging for the voluntarylcommunity sector which we are a part of. This political
vacuum has had a particularly negative effect on the distribution of much needed funding to the many
organizations dependent on the Executive Office for their continuing work. Thankfully, we have
managed to weather the storm so far, but the uncertainty is still putting our group under a lot of
pressure with the delayed transfer of approved funds.
On a more positive note, we are managing to meet all our planned target outputs and in a few areas,
such as our training programme, we are well above our targets. What has become very clear post
Brexit is that the Northern Ireland economy is performing better than other areas of the UK, largely due
to the work of the large population of migrant workers who have chosen to remain here and happily call
this place their home.
We are especially grateful to all the volunteers and people who continue to support our work and
activities, starting with our dedicated Management Committee members who offer so much of their
time and effort to keep our organization strong. A very special word of thanks to our Chairman Jimmy
Law who works incessantly to guide us in the right direction.
Advice & Advocacy
Our drop-ln service continues lo be the focal poinl of our work which is available daily, providing our
members with the support they need in just about every aspect of their immediate concerns, including
employment, housing, health, education, access to public services and social welfare entitlements. We
have also assisted hundreds of people with immigration advice and support in partnership wilh STEP
Dungannon.
The total number of registered enquiries dealt with through our office for the 2022-23 year was 1814,
which was slightly above our target figure. It should also be noted that the great majority of our clients
do not have English as a first language and were provided with interpreter support to ensure the
optimum outcome for their needs.
Funding
In March we completed the first year of our 3 year funding award from the Minority Ethnic Development
Fund which runs until March 2025. We completed all the requisite progress reports and final c18ims to
ensure we availed 100°/o of our award amount which covers staff 3 salaries and our utility and rent
expendilure.
During the 2022-23 period we received project grant awards from different agencies for a total of
£31,125 to carry out a wide range of training projects as well as social and cultural events. This
included £9,520 from Big Lottery for training courses, £5,750 from Fermanagh & Omagh Council for
support services and cultural activities and £4,880 from Apex & Radius Housing for sociallcultural
events. Under a service level agreement wilh STEP Dungannon we also received £10,975 to provide
immigration advice and support, which we are continuing to do.
Activities & Events
Over the 2022-23 period, OECSG organized a wide range of social and cultural activities and events
including.. Ethnic Halloween celebration in Community House with more than 100 attendees

Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group
Trustees. Annual Report (contlnued)
Year ended 31 March 2023
Christmas gathering in St. Joseph's Hall with 120 people
Chinese New Year in Community House with 120 attendees
Visit of Hungarian Ambassador to Omagh
Family outing to Crumlin Road Gaol
Platinum Jubilee celebration in Castle Irvine
8 diversity presentations
Training I Cap8Cltation
Preparing our Members with skills to access employment and training in practical activities continues
to be an essential component of our programming as we help them to integrate more fully into the local
community. With this objective in mind, OECSG organized an extensive range of training and
capacitation courses during 2022-23.
Total of 6 ESOL courses for Beginners and Improvers in Omagh and Enniskillen. These included 2
courses in Omagh in collaboration with Focus, 2 courses funded by Big Lottery in Omagh and 1 course
in Enniskillen with the support of Fermanagh & Om8gh Council - First Aid course in Community House
2 Pilates wellbeing courses
1 recreational Spanish course.
Ne￿OrkIng
Working with other groups within the communitylvoluntary sector is at the heart of our networking
strategy to make maximum use of the resources available from both statutory and community sector
groups to ensure that the rights of ethnic minorities are respected and upheld. This collaborative work
has enabled us to identify the wider needs of ethnic groups and offer practical responses and make
important referrals to other bodies when required. The principal groups we have been ne￿OrkIng with
include.. STEP in the provision of immigralion advice and support
Focus language support as part of the Community Voices Programme
Good Relations Team at Fermanagh & Omagh Council improving access to public services- British
Red Cross in providing direct material help for families experiencing hardship because of the cost of
living crisis. The support of these and all our cohesion partners has helped us to ensure that the issues
impacting eihnic families become priorities in the policies of both statutory and community groups.

Omagh Ethnic Communities Support Group
Trustees, Annual Report (contlnued)
Year ended 31 March 2023
Flnan¢lal revlew
Principal Funding Sources
The main funder of the charity is The Executive Office which effectively covers the salaries of OECSG.
The charity has continually sought and secured funding from other sources to assist with ongoing
expenditure. The principal sources for our project work continues to be Fermanagh & Omagh District
Council, STEP Dungannon, the Northern Ireland Refugee Relocation Programme and Focus.
Reserves Policy and Going Concern
The trustees have examined the charity's requirements for reserves in light of the main risk to the
organisation namely the availability of funding from third parties and agreed that unrestricted funds not
committed should be betmeen 3 to 6 months of the charity's annual expenditure excluding salaries.
The reserves are needed to bridge the gap betsveen the receiving and spending of income and to
cover any unplanned emergency spending.
The most challenging aspect is maintaining funding streams to carry out the work of the charity and
OECSG has been fortunate once again to receive approval of core funding from The Executive Office
for 2021-22 period as well as additional funding approved from other sources. Considering the above
the trustees do not believe there are any uncertainties surrounding the going concern of the charity,
Plans for future p8rlod8
Because of ongoing Covid restrictions, it is very difficult to see too far into the future with any degree of
certainly. Like everyone else we are subject to government and official guidelines regarding the extent
to which we can organise gatherings and events. Thankfully, we have secured funding to organise our
annual Halloween and Christmas events from the Community Relations Council and also support from
Focus to run a number of coffee morning presentations. The signs are looking positive for the moment
and we are confident we will be able to complete nearly all of our planned activities.
Our face-to-face advice services are operating on an appointment only basis at present and the
number of people we can assist is restricted due to social distancing rules. Only one member of staff
can deal with the public at any one time, so we have arranged a rota system for staff to allow this
service to function as well as possible In the circumsiances. This arrangement is subject to
government guidelines
We are also becoming accustomed to the use of virtual technology lo attend meetings and this new
reality may well become a regular feature of our future working methods. Nonetheless, we believe the
more in person contact that is possible will allow our work to be that much more effective, especially
considering that ethnic minority community members are more susceptible to social isolation.
The trustees, annual report was approved on 19 June 2023 and signed on behalf of the board of
trustees by:
Danuta Kelly
Trustee