# Meadow / Armagh Road Community Association NIC103784 # Trustees Annual Report October 2024 to september 2025 | \ & . - - . . ° . ## Charity Details ## Charity Name: Meadow and Armagh Road Community Association ## Charity Number: Registered Charity in Northern Ireland - NIC103784 Purpose: The Association is established to promote the benefit of the inhabitants of the Meadow and Armagh Road Area, Newry and its environs; to include: (Meadow) - The Fold, Clanrye Avenue, Clanrye Park, Helen’s Terrace, Orior Road, Slieve Gullion Road, lveagh Crescent, Killeavy Road, Derrybeg Drive, Ballinlare Gardens and (Armagh Road) — Violet Hill Avenue, College Gardens, Mountain View Drive, Clonmore, Lisdarragh (hereinafter called “the area of benefit”) without distinction of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic Identity, class, marital status, political or religious opinion, by associating the statutory authorities, voluntary and community sector organisations and the inhabitants in a common effort to advance education, and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants. Charity Trustees as of September 30°, 2025 Mr Gerry Mc Donald (Chairperson) Mr Brendan Cranny Ms Noreen Rice Mr Niall Quinn Mr Robert (Bobby) Johnson Ms Clare Carroll MrJohnny Franks Ms Darrelle Shields Ms Sinead Larkin Ms Dominika Wojciechowska — resigned during the year. Note: No other Charity Trustees in the Year to 30" September 2025 ## Accountant/Independent Examiner Gemma Doran 5 Bracken Close, Newry, Co. Down ) ## Insurance Broker & Underwriter Marsh Insurance Ltd. (Ecclesiastical Brokers) Bedford House, 16-22 Bedford Street, Belfast. ## Bank First Trust, 42-44 Hill Street, Newry, Co. Down. 2 | Charity No: NIC103784 Lo ## Chairpersons Report Welcome to our Annual Trustees Report for the period October 2024 to September 2025 and thank you all for taking the time to come along to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and listen to our report on activities and public benefit for the year. Like so many small grassroots charities we are feeling the demands on our volunteers and our services, and it has been challenging at times to ensure that we remain on top of everything. Sometimes people forget that we are all volunteers, giving our time and effort freely for the benefit of the local community; we are juggling work commitments, family and caring responsibilities, and our own personal lives. As Chair | am very proud of all we have achieved over this reporting period, and | would like to acknowledge and commend the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. As most of you will be aware, we have management responsibility for a large community centre in the heart of our area of benefit which is owned by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (NMDDC). We work hard to ensure that that there is a direct benefit in terms of access to services and programmes for residents from the community centre base. We work in partnership with a range of like-minded organisations and are delighted to have anchor user groups such as Home Start and Bolster Community working from our centre. . We are grateful to the main funders who have continued to support the work of the Community Association and the development of the Community Centre, and we extend our 7 thanks to the following: - ¢ The Department for Communities & Newry Mourne & Down District Council — Neighbourhood Renewal Programme. - e Newry, Mourne & Down District Council for the funding provided through our Facilities Management Agreement (FMA) to cover essential running costs. - e All the User Groups in the Community Centre for contributing to our generated income streams; this vital money is directly used to support our local community. - e Confederation of Community Groups for ongoing community development support, advice and guidance. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | would also like to thank the following for their continued support: Catherine O’Hanlon — Department for Communities who fund the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme and through it, the NR Outdoor Education Programme. Julie Mc Cann & Laura Sage —- Newry Mourne & Down District Council Sean Mc Kevitt — Neighbourhood Renewal Coordinator, Newry Mourne & Down District Council Kerri Morrow & Padraig Harte - Newry Mourne & Down District Council Cathy Mc Mahon — Confederation of Community Groups Martin Connell — Southern Health & Social Care Trust | Charity No: NIC103784 Euan Morgan — Community Restorative Justice Newry & Armagh Newry & Mourne Extended Schools a 2 There are many challenges facing small grassroots charities such as us and one of them continues to be in attracting and recruiting new volunteers. The expectation and pressure on volunteers and community-based organisations only seems to increase, with more reporting and paperwork than ever before, and it can sometimes be difficult to stay on top of everything. ’d like to take a moment and thank all our charity trustees and volunteers; you are doing an incredible and often unseen job to keep the community centre running, attending numerous meetings to ensure that the needs of our community are being raised and addressed. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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| would like to take this opportunity to pass on our sincerest condolences to all those families who have lost loved ones over the past year; we continue to keep you all in our thoughts and prayers. Finally, | will conclude by thanking our community, without your ongoing support for all that we do there would be little point in continuing. | encourage you to consider getting involved as a volunteer yourself and help develop new projects to benefit the local community as we move forward. Our most recent seniors Christmas dinner at the Canal Court Hotel was testament to the power of our community spirit, and it was wonderful to see so many of our older residents attending a fabulous evening alongside all our Trustees and volunteers. We look forward to another great year for 2025 to 2026. Gerry Mc Donald ) Chairperson Meadow / Armagh Road Community Centre . . **----- Start of picture text -----**
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Charity No: NICL03784 , ; ## Financial Review ## Financial Performance Financial performance over this reporting period has, once again, been down when compared to previous years figures. It has continued to be challenging to attract long term tenants to the community centre although we are continuing to focus on this. Trustees did not apply for any additional external grants during this period, and this also explains a lower income level overall. When we combine this with the ever-escalating costs of utilities and general running expenses for the community centre it is a challenging financial landscape. ## income: Income receipts for the year totalled at £17,446 as compared to £20,499 in the previous financial period— see Charity Accounts / Independent Examiners Report for full breakdown of figures. | The main sources of income remain as in previous years: - © £7,355 from community centre activities, including venue/rental income. e £10,091 for Running Expenses via the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (Department for Communities) and Newry, Mourne & Down District Council via our Facilities Management Agreement. - Charity Trustees would like to see an increase in our own generated income streams to assist with long term sustainability for the Charity. . | | , Expenditure Expenditure for the year totalled at £15,055 as compared to £25,277 in the previous financial period. — see Charity Accounts / Independent Examiners Report for the full breakdownofthe financial spend. | Expenditure was down when compared to the previous financial period, mostly related to a reduction in spend on community centre activities. The main items of expenditure for this period were: - e £10,091 running costs/expenses for the community centre. ® £6,364 community centre activities expenses. - e £1,645 public liability insurance costs. ## Funds Materially in Deficit As of the 30" September 2025 the Meadow and Armagh Road Community Association had no funds in material deficit. ## Major Risks Trustees have identified no major risks moving into the next financial period. However, as many organisations face their own funding cuts it is increasingly difficult to attract long term ; Charity No: NIC103784 . | tenants to rent the facilities, and the short-term rentals create more insecurity in our ## income streams. Trustees also note the inherent risk in trying to secure external funding streams as a means of sustainability, which is why alternative options are being explored. ## Financial Management The Trustees maintain robust financial systems and have good financial management systems in place; all cheques must be signed by two out of our three cheque signatories. We have successfully held many grants and have always fulfilled all accounting, reporting and monitoring requirements; our annual accounts are independently examined and presented at the Annual General Meeting. ## Statement of Assets and Liabilities The total assets of the Community Association, as of the 30" September 2025, were £16,884, whilst liabilities were £3,464, leaving an accumulation fund of £13,420. : Charity No: NIC103784 ; ## Public Benefit Statement The Trustees of the Meadow & Armagh Road Community Association confirm that they have complied with their duty under section 17 (5) of the Charities Act 2011 to have regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and that the public benefit requirement has informed the activities of theMeadow & Armagh Road Community Association in the year to 30" September 2025. In evaluating public benefit, the Trustees note that membership is open to all residents in the ‘area of benefit’ — (Full members aged 18 and over, Junior members under 18) — and we strive to provide a range of activities that will cater for all ages but some necessary and reasonable restrictions have been put in place for example, our youth groups’ personal development programmes which would not be age appropriate for primary school children; nor would the Over 50’s Club be appropriate for the young people. However, many events, activities, seasonal events and fun days are open to all ages in the community. ## Summary of Main Activities We have management responsibility for a large, Council owned Community Centre and, it is from this community base, that many of our main activities are delivered. Our community office is regularly open for residents to call in for information, signposting, social contact and access to Wi-Fi. Our community centre is open each day with different activities and services available, we are delighted to have both Home Start and Bolster Community operating consistently from the centre and offering additional services to benefit the local community. The community centre continues to be a very popular venue for birthday parties, and other family celebrations and we encourage people to get their dates booked into our diary early to avoid disappointment. Our volunteers and trustees have been busy delivering our own programme of activities, events and opportunities over the year. The weekly Community Bingo nights are as popular as ever and remain an important vehicle for bringing the community together, reducing isolation and providing a safe and warm place for new friendships to develop and for everyone to enjoy some light-hearted fun. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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The highlight of the festive of the festive the festive festive period for our older our older older residents must be the annual be the annual the annual outing to the Canal to the Canal the Canal Canal Court Hotel for for their Christmas Christmas dinner. For many this many this this is an extravagance beyond their financial means their financial means financial means means and it’s important to important to to us to to able to treat them to treat them treat them them and give something back to the something back to the back to the to the the local community. It’s a wonderful wonderful social opportunity and a vital means of connecting of connecting connecting isolated residents. We are gathering are gathering gathering feedback from these residents now and will be using this to inform new project development for the the coming year. year. The community centre was was full for a surprise visit from from Santa and his helpers, over 100 children were delighted to attend and receive a small gift on the day. Everyone was treated to an afternoon of entertainment and festive treats. We were honoured to support our local Indian community and worked alongside the Indian Arts Club to help promote the Newry Dance Festival in January 2025. We were also delighted to be involved with the development of the first Newry Mela in September 2025. We have continued to work as active partners on the Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership and through the Neighbourhood Renewal Health Sub-Group and the Neighbourhood Renewal Outdoor Education Programme, we were able to get access to a wide range of health programmes for the Community Centre and facilitate access to activities and trips for residents. These offered the local community free opportunities with no barriers to participation. The February midterm Multi Sports Week at the community centre was very well attended, and children got to try a wide variety of different sports and games. We were delighted to get a further Multi Sports programme via SHSCT which ran over the summer period. m4, Southern Health We were pleased to facilitate Community Health Checks and Social Care Trust for adults at the centre, Cardiac Screening Tests, breast screening with the Action Cancer Big Bus, and further health checks with Action Cancer. We are grateful to the Southern Health and Social Care Trust for managing this programme and making these opportunities available locally. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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Charity No: NIC103784 7 Throughout this reporting period there have been a range of additional opportunities | | | | ” . : | | available from the community centre: - e Valentines Disco - e Arts & Crafts Workshops throughout the year where the children got to make cards and decorations for upcoming seasonal events and celebrations. - e We worked with our partners at Bolster Community to facilitate a Discover and Connect Tea dance for seniors at the community centre. - e We worked with our partners at the Newry & Mourne Enterprise Agency ona Summer Numeracy Catch Up Camp at the community centre. . - e Asummer Lego Bricks and Coding Camp also ran in the community centre. e We engaged with the EA Youth Service to develop a new programme, called Newry Summer Buzz, which was open to young people aged 13+ living across the Newry Neighbourhood Renewal areas. - ¢ Our Summer Camp programme ran across July with a range of different activities and games, sports opportunities and a show and tell event. - e We were delighted to offer something different for the adults with an Over 40’s Disco Night and an Over 20’s Paint & Pour Night, both of which ran in August. We are thankful to the NR Outdoor Education programme for providing the funding to cover the costs of community trips to the Escape Rooms @ the SSE Arena, Tyrella Beach, Airtastic Entertainment Centre, and Prison Island. Trustees have also been mindful of the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis on many households throughout this area; as a designated Neighbourhood Renewal area due to the high levels of multiple deprivations prevalent, these pressures are felt more acutely on already struggling households. We have maintained close working links with the local St Vincent de Paul chapter and have referred many families on for additional confidential support. Likewise with Community Advice for support with access to benefits and assistance with the completion of claim forms; and we have been working with Clanrye Group Ltd and have assisted with referrals and signposting to their Social Supermarket Scheme. The Trustees of the Meadow and Armagh Road Community Association have continued representing the area on several different partnerships and networks to ensure that the needs of the area are being addressed through the proper channels. These include the Newry Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership and associated sub-groups; Newry Mourne & Down District Council DEA Forum, Confederation of Community Groups, the NIHE Housing Community Network, and inter-agency meetings. o Charity No: NIC103784 ## Photographic Highlights **----- Start of picture text -----**
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CONFEDERATION OF Department for _ COMMUNITY GROUPS Communities ## Comhairle Ceantair an Iuir, Mhurn agus an Duin District Council A' Newry, Mourne and Down Housing Society of St. Vincent de Paul Charity No: NIC103784 q