Donaghadeeyouth For Christ- NIC103400-Annual Report to 31 December 2023 The trustees of Donaghadeeyouth For Christ are pleased to submit their reporc and accounts for the period of I'january to 31 December 2023. Purposes Donaghadeeyouth For Christ is a youth organisation, esrablished in Donaghadee in 1995, and based there to provide opportunities for young people in Donaghadee and the immediate area co learn about Christianity, embrace it for themselves and ultimately become members of local churches. It is chartered centre to the national body,Youth For Christ Northern Ireland. which in turn is a chartered programme of Youth For Christ International. Donaghadeeyouth For Christ runs a 'drop-in' Cent at I l High Street. Donaghadee where young people both from churched and non-churched backgrounds can encountrr the Gospel in a relevant way, be given the opportunity to explore it more for themselves. with the view to them becoming members of one of the local churches. Staffed by one full-time and one part-time staff member. along with a team of trained volunteers, the centre is normally open for l O hours each week and offers a range of attivities, games. strucEured programmes. Bible study groups, prayer meetings and worship events for all young people in the Donaghadee area, alongside the craditional 'drop in, type facility. The centre also runs educationltraining courses for young people looking at citizenship and lifestyle issues such as drugs and alcohol awareness, knife crime, Sexuality, teen pregnancy and road safety, facilitated by both staff members and external providers. Donaghadeeyouth For Christ offers a counselling service to any young person on a wide range of issues. It also provides activities for young people outside the centre including trips, camps and sporting events. Donaghadee Youth For Christ carries out outreach work from the centre. which may include visitation of schools. street evangelism, summer teams work and events of all kind5 designed to present young people with the Gospel. Donaghadeeyouth For Christ runs evangeliscic events. participates in church services and engages in such activities as are deemed necessary or desirable for the attainment of the purpose. Donaghadeeyouth For Christ runs a charity shop in the town of Donaghadee. the proceeds of which go towards supporting che work of the centre. Donaghadeeyouth For Christ cooperatss with the churches in Don2gh2dee and other organisations, the aims of which are similar in character, in promoting evangelism particularly among young people. The Centre also seeks to enable young people in Donaghadee to grow up in a spiritually enlightened environment, irrespective of their background or degree of church involvement and offers programmes and events to allow the prattical outworking of the Christian faith through the promotion and demonstration of a strong, moral. ethical lifestyle. equipping young people to make better lifestyle choices and to give them a betcer understanding of Christian citizenship. Beneficiaries The charity's beneficiaries are primarily children aged 8-13 and young people aged from 14 and up. those young people on the margins of the Donaghadee community. and those with whom the established churches find difficulty reaching. ActivitieslAchievements The core activities of Donaghadeeyouth For Christ are: Delivery of weekly. age-specific. after-school programmes providing teaching and greatrr understanding of the Christian faith for children and young people,. Delivery of drop-in based, evening youth work sessions for children and teenagers; Partnering with schools. churches and like-minded organisations to increase the standard of professional youth work within the local area; Providing an outreach programme within the local area. The Structured programme includes a range of age-specific small groups and includes: Monday: SU group in local primary school for P4-P7 boys & girls (age 7-11).
Drop-in session for the Year 8-1 O's group (age 11-13) working through practical topics such as drugs, alcohol, bullying. peer pressure. internet safety. Kids Bible Bizz P7 (age l O- I l ). Kids Bible Bizz P6 (age 9-10). Evening- Teenagers. group (age 13-17) small group sessions, lots of fun trips, group work sessions with organi5ations such a5 A.C.E.T. Love For Life, EXTERN. PSNI, Youth Justice Agency 2nd link ups with our local police constables to build imporrant relationships of mutual respect & tackle anti-social behaviour issues. Morning football sessions for older teenager5. Tuesday: Wednesday: Friday: Saturday: In addition to the weekly programme above. the centre also conducted "Time to Move" style lessons for P7 pupils in local primary schools making the move to secondary school; 'Mum & Daughter" group work sessions- assemblies in local primary schools, and facilitated group work sessions and residential weekends to places such as Todd's Leap Outdoor Activity Centre, Jungle Nl and the The Surf Project. In addition to the struccured programme, Donaghadeeyouth For Christ also provides mentoring and detached screet work in the communiry. and offers services to local primary and secondary schools as well as helping provide training and support to the churches and running one-off events, trips, workshops and residential weekends. Fundraising accivities. like sponsored football on Boxing Day and in June. and the coffee afternoon are run on an annual basis and enjoy very encouraging support from the majority of businesses in the town, local churches and many individuals and parents of the childrenlyoung people. Restrictions As the large majoriry of the Centre's offering is funded by personal donations. grant funding. proceeds from the charity shop and some fundraising events, no charge is usually levied for the regular weekly programme activities other than a nominal annual registration fee. Some exceptional aspects of the programme may require a contribution from young people, for example a residential weekend, but as far as possible the Centre endeavours to opernte at a very affordable level giving priority instead to increased opportunities for participation. There were no issues of access to facilities to report as the centre is based entirely on the ground floor, includes level access from the street entrance, wide corridors and includes the provision of an accessible toilet. Harm There were no issues in respect of harm to reporL Harm is mitigated by ensuring that staff and volunteers undergo regular training which included child protrttion, first aid, mental health awareness and GDPR. Support is provided for continued professional practice to aid the development of the work standards of staff. volunteers and trustees, Through its chartering toyouth For Christ Northern Ireland, the Donaghadee YFC Drop-ln Centre also has to comply wich certain'best practice. requirements of its chartering agreement. Private Benefit There was no known private benefit to the public. In setting the objective5 and planning the activities of Donaghadeeyouth For Christ for the year, the trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity's purposes and provide a benefit to the beneficiaries.
Financial Review The financial performance for the year to 315t December 2023 was satisfactory and as expecced. considering the ongoing recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was very pleasing to the trustees. Income for the year in the general account of £78,866 was up 12.5Yo on the previous year. whilst expenditure vS up 1.4Yo to £74,825, reflecting a return to full operations after Covid-19. The charity finished the year with a modest surplus overall of £4,041, which counterbalanced the deficit of £4,238 reported in the previous period. In addition to careful ongoing financial management. the trustees have also retained a reserve of £12.000. equating to 16y¥) of annual expenditure, in line with its policy on reserves. Detailed accounts can be found attached. Funds Materially in Deficit As at 31 st December 2023 the organisation had no funds in matsrial deficiL Details: Charity Name: Donaghadeeyouth For Christ Northern Ireland Charity Number: NIC103400 Principal Address: I l High Street, Donaghadee. Co Down. BT21 OAA CharityTrustees as at 31.12,21: Gordon Currie Stuart Hamilton Paul Bowers David Duncan Reca Pollock Janice MacArthur Chairperson Treasurer Secretary Governance The organisation is governed by a constitution, adopted in January 1994 and last amended in April 2016. this can be made available upon request. The organisation is directed by the board of trustees, who receive guidance fromyouth For Christ Northern Ireland through which it is affiliated by charter. The day-to-day running of programmes and the drop-in centre itself is managed by the staff and volunteers. with oversight from the Centre Co-ordinator. Trustee Selection and Management As outlined in the constitution, the Board ofTrustees is made up of no more than 14 members. For the year co 31 st December 2023 the board consisted of 6 members, with a representative range reflecting a range of vocations and a balance of age. gender. churches and denominations. The National Director of Youth For Christ Northern Ireland is an ex-officio member of the board of trustees of Donaghadeeyouth For ChrisL The Board is eletted by secret ballot every year at the Annual General Meecing. where current board members are able to put themselves forward as well as receiving nominations for new prospective member5 to Stand for election. Oucside of this. up to three board member5 can be co-opted onto the Board at any time, providing they are approved by a majority vote of the existing Board. The Board of trustees meets typically monthly throughout che year, with a break in July and AugusL The trustees met 8 times during the year to 3 1st December 2023, with all meetings being held in person. At each meeting the Treasurer presents the latest financial report on the accounts and these are reviewed against budgets and forecasts. spending is discussed and approved. The Centre Co-ordinator presents an overview of recent activities within the programmes and outlines forthcoming events. The Annual Report
and Statement of Accounts are approved by the trustees and then presenced to the members at the Annual General Meeting, which took place on 27 November 2023. Prepared for the Board of Trustees on 6 September 2024 and signed on their behalf; Stuart Hamilton ( T1j£TEL