Report for the trustees for the year ended 31[st] March 2023
The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting System applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).
Objectives and activities
Aidhmeanna/Aims
Altram is registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 103690. It operates under a constitution dated 5[th] March 2012.
Altram is constituted under the following descriptions of charitable purpose:
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The advancement of education
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The advancement of arts, culture, heritage or science
Altram shall be non-political, non-racial and non-sectarian in character.
Altram was established to advance the following aims:
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The advancement of Irish-medium early years’ care and education
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The promotion and delivery of quality Irish-medium early years’ care and education services to meet community need and demand
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The involvement of families, parents and carers in the early learning experiences of their children
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The provision of relevant training and support to the Irish-medium early years’ sector
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The development of early years’ care and educational services as the foundation for Irish-medium education
Principle activities
Altram exists to promote high quality early years’ care and education which is open to all and to support family involvement as a keystone in the development of the Irish language community.
Financial review
The company had net incoming resources.
The charity continues to work tirelessly to secure income from various sources to finance its ongoing activities with key stakeholders. The main source of funding is grants received from various bodies as disclosed in note 4 in the financial statements.
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Principle funding sources
The main sources of funding during the year 2022-23 are as follows:
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Department of Health
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Department of Education (via Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta)
Review of the year
The organisation has continued to work advancing Irish Medium early years care and education, continued its work in relation to Early Years’ Specialist support to Irish Medium early years providers. It also delivered a range of training and support opportunities to practitioners both regionally and locally. This included generic training as well as Irish-medium specific training. Altram also initiated the development of a bespoke accredited practitioner focused Irish immersion course, and continued to facilitate training to the broader spectrum of interested partners including committees and parents, to meet community needs and demands and to promote the involvement of families, parents and carers in the early learning experiences of their children. Our work in developing resources and support material for practitioners and parents is ongoing.
Altram also maintained and developed its role in advocacy and representation of the Irish- medium Early Years’ sector.
Altram, like society in general, ended the current financial year with a level of concern around increases in the cost of living and budget cuts, but we responded to the challenges ahead and secured further funding for the work of the organisation to continue. Our robust systems and flexible staff have allowed us to adjust our working practice to continue delivering our services to the sector and meet commitments to our funders.
Future plans
Altram faces a challenging year ahead but we plan to meet these challenges and continue to provide our advice, support and guidance to the Irish-medium early years care and education sector using a variety of platforms and support the sector through this continued financially pressured period. Altram is confident that present funders will continue to support the organisation.
In the financial year 2023-2024, we will provide and extend the full range of support, training, resource, advocacy and representation services including:
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Deliver a comprehensive early years’ support service to Irish-medium early years settings
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Deliver recommendations from the State of the Sector report
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Support the response to recommendations arising from IM Preschool research (2016)
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Deliver a regional event to raise awareness about relevant issues within the sector
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Develop resources to support practitioners, children and parents in the Irish-medium early years sector
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Develop a partnership to deliver a scoping exercise on the needs of immersion education in Ireland and Scotland
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Develop accredited training to support practitioners delivering an early years Irish-medium immersion education programme
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Deliver a practitioner training programme aimed at developing expertise within the sector
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Deliver management support clinics aimed at building the capacity of committees within the Irishmedium early years sector
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Represent the Irish-medium sector on relevant bodies
Structure, governance and management
The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust and constitutes an unincorporated charity.
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