SOLAS MOYLE – TRUSTEES REPORT
Financial Year 01.04.2023- 31.03.24
Introduction:
The trustees of Solas Moyle are pleased to present their annual trustees report for year ending March 2024.
Details and history of the charity:
Solas Moyle, 62 Ann Street, Ballycastle, BT54 6AD, Charity Registration Number NIC103485.
Charity established: October 2010
Solas Moyle in an unincorporated association and charitable organisation.
The purpose of the organisation is to offer support to promote positive emotional wellbeing, in warm and welcoming environment. Our support is open to all adults, aged 18 and over regardless of age, gender, background or any other factor.
Solas Moyle trades under the name of Solas Wellbeing to aid in the public’s understanding of the focus of the charity.
Charity Trustees:
Below is a list of charity trustees who served on the management committee in this financial year:
Eithne Darragh – Chairperson (from Sept 23) John Foley – Chairperson (resigned Aug 23) James Mathews – Treasurer Brid Lofthouse – Secretary Jennifer Pedlow Stella Norwood Angela Jamison Rosemary Morton Tara Connor (resigned Nov 2023)
All trustees or members of the management committee must be voted in by other members of the management committee at either the AGM or a regular committee meeting if a vacancy arises throughout the year.
Main activities undertaken by Solas:
This year marks our third year in the lottery funding, with funding guaranteed until March 2026.
During this year we continued operating within the budgets and objectives set out within our funding application to the National Lottery. We have focused on continuing to offer a consistent space and support for all member of the local community on a drop in basis.
Over the year we delivered three quarterly programmes covering April to June, September to December and January to March and a family focussed programme over the summer months due to the need to
support the wellbeing of young people and their families, and also the negative impact of school holidays attendance figures for our normal programmes.
Each of the programmes involved the following types of activities:
Drop In: We offered four different drop-in sessions each week, providing a safe space for people
to visit, enjoy a cuppa & some company and find out more about our organisation & the support
people can access. We offered one of these dedicated drop in session per week for men, to encourage men to join with other for company, support and connection.
Group programmes: we offered a wide range of group based activities, a few core activities run weekly throughout each of the programmes, with other activities varying in each programme and lasting for 4-8 weeks per activity.
These were focussed on either
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relaxing activities e.g. meditation, ear acupuncture, anxiety management and a new Feldenkrais class (Awareness through Movement)
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Creative activities e.g. mosaic making, knitting, art for wellbeing
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Exercise activities e.g. Tai Chi, Gentle yoga & Dance.
In addition, we introduced a bereavement support group to bring together people who were dealing with the loss of a spouse or partner.
Individual support: individual counselling and complementary therapies were available following a short assessment (due to limited funding) as well as a individual listening ear sessions were
offered as a step between group support and formal counselling.
Project based funding
In September 2023, we secured funding from the Department of Health to deliver a project to support unpaid carers in our local community. This was launched in November 2023 and will run until January 2025. This is focussing on some group based activities to encourage connections with others, including Coffee & Chat drop in and restorative yoga; alongside complementary therapy sessions to give people therapeutic support on a one to one basis.
Development of new premises
As part of the business plan, we secured additional premises with space to host our physical and creative activities. Previous to this, we hired space within other local facilities with a significant cost. This new studio space was opened in January 2024 and has enabled us to plan our programme dmore effectively.
Service Users
In this financial year, we supported 515 unique individuals, attending one of more of our activities, either drop in, group activities or individual therapies.
We also delivered three key outreach projects in the community:
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shared education with 2 local primary schools to bring circus skills for confidence & wellbeing
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community mental health initiative (Black & Amber Best Life) delivering tasters of our group based activities
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young mum’s project with Sure Start, offering ear acupuncture for mum’s while Surestart provided creche facilities
Referrers
We continue to receive regular referrals from the Mental Health Practioners at GP practices and Livingwell Moyle. Referrals are also welcomed from other statutory agencies, departments and voluntary organisations. Signposting to and from our services is also encouraged with other local organisations and community groups.
Self referrals are also welcome from people who wish to access support without going through statutory provision.
Financial summary:
In 2023/24 Solas Moyle income was £122,091 which is below the audit threshold, therefore our payments and receipts based accounts were verified by an independent person selected by the trustees to be someone suitably qualified and experienced to check our financial procedures and records. The income received in 2022/23 £125,534, showing a consistent level of income over the two years.
The increase in expenditure for the current financial year is due primarily due to the capital spend on the development of the new studio space, which was budgeted for during years 1 & 2 of our funding, however we had been unable to secure suitable premises; in addition to this, the cost of living increases has had an impact on this overall expenditure.
In the current financial year £14480 was spent on the individual counselling, £14730 was spent on individual complementary therapy sessions and £7512 was spent on group support activities.
Key Funders for 2023/24
As per the previous year, our key funder for this year is the Big Lottery Fund, which commenced in April 2021 and is due to continue until March 2026. The income from the Big Lottery Fund accounts for 82% of our income in this financial year. In addition, we received £8947 from the Department of Health for our carer’s project, which straddles over two financial years.
In addition, £7351 was received through donations & fundraising, which is just under £1000 more than was raised during 2022/23. Our Stripe income is monies generated from people making a donation
towards the cost of attending our group classes, and this has increase by £356 to £1999 for the current financial year.
Upcoming financial year
The trustees are satisfied that the organisation can continue to thrive in the coming financial year, as we have guaranteed funding for 2024/25 from The National Lottery.
The trustees will continue to meet every two months, where consideration is made to the financial situation, programme activities, volunteer resources and ideas for developments. Two founding volunteers and the project manager attend these meetings in order to report on activities, answer any queries relating to day to day operations and, especially in the case of the founding volunteers, to ensure the committee retains the ethos of the Solas at the heart of the organisation as it develops.
Conclusion:
This annual report accurately outlines the charitable activities and financial circumstances of Solas Moyle during the financial year April 2023-March 2024.
Signed on behalf of all the trustees/committee members of Solas Moyle as at 31.03.24
Signature: ___ Position: ___ Date: __
Please note trustee signed report in a different location, therefore the signature was sent via picture messaging hence the change in quality from the main electronic report to the inserted signature.