Loup Women's Group - Trustee's Annual Report for the year ended 31" December 2024 The Trustees present their Annual Report and Statements of Receipts and Payments and Assets and s¢ Liabilities for Loup Women's Group Group for the year 31 December 2024. References and Admlntstrative Details Charity Name: Loup Women's Group Charity Registration Number: NICI 04831 Principal AddresstRegistered oifice: Mrs Helen Andrews 6 Dunronan Road Magherafelt BT45 7SU Trustees The trustees who served during the year are as follows: Chairperson: Helen Anthews Vice Chair: Maura Johnston Secretary: Jennifer Harnilton Treasurer: Irene Johnston Patricia Toner Ann Cassidy Anne Conway Christine McFlynn Rosaleen Mcmahon Bernadctte O'Neill Dympna Wilson Delia McPeake Jennifer Bell Mary Frances McGuckin PRO: Committee Members:
Objectives & Activities The benefits flowing from the purposes of Loup Women's Group is that the people of The Loup and surrounding areas have access to a range of educational, social and recreational activities promoted by the group. People benefit by learning new skills in a variety of crafts. They benefit from being introduced to IT which in turn helps tbem to work with their childreii with a better luiowledge of moderii technology. The cominunity benefits beiause llidividuals who niight othenvise be isolated in a very rural ai.ea are given opportUDity to meet and interact witb each other. Individuals with disabilities benefii because the building used by the oi.oup is w'heelchair accessible so that those ivith disabilities can participate. A inajor beiiefit for ei'eryoiie participating in die ctivities is tliat they nieet new friends. learn to tsvst each othu" and share individual probleins with eacli other. Local voluntters beDefit by becoming inilolved in the w'ork of the '0up and deriving a sense of achieN.ement and pUoSe and owi]ership of everything that happens. All participants beAiefit from the tducatiOtVdl clasies. talks and lekntLll"es often from eminent speakers on a huge variety of topics. Tbose wlio participate in the social outings beiiefit from visiting interebting places, learning by networking with other .0pS ld as a reiult reducing their feellligs of isolation Id lonelinei1S. While the niajority of activities are oroanised for TOmeD bv 0en M]Y of the talks and claJses are opeii to the entire coinmunity so eNtryone c] benefit. Tlie benefits are measw.ed by internal eiialuat1oi which are held at the end of eacb series of cla<ses or courses. Theji -e also measured by the niunber of people ii'anting to atteiid the actiiFities and by the feedback ti'oni the genei'al community the inanagement coinmittee. Loup Women's Group has had another enjoyable year in 2024. We have kept on doing the long rLllJning classes and also managed some other workshops. Fern took the stone painting classes. 2 x l O week sessions. They painted some beautiful pictures on the stones . This is a very relaxing past time. The stones are used around the home and in the garden. The crochet classes were also well attended with Celine guiding everyone through the stitches. The ladies are always very keen to get started at the beginning of each session. It's a great skill to have The scrapbooking classes are much enjoyed too. Yvonne leads these classes and everyone follows the instructions meticulously to produce papercraft items. Gardening still goes on with Jenny. There are only 4 in the class but we still fmd it worthwhile. We had a bumper crop of strawberries ,plums , apples and blackcurrants. The Conservation Volunteers, the organisation which Jenny works with , held an Autumn gathering in September. Jenny Hamilton got first prize for her plum brnndy. We were taught the art of pounding flowers onto material. It is called "Tatakizome" an ancient Japanese technique. On colder days we did some cooking . Apple chutney was one of the recipes we tried.
Reminiscence was a new subject for us to get involved with. Maura led these 4 sessions of recording memories . She put these into script and a book was printed . There are still plenty of copies for sale. Then at Christmas the workshops take off. We did Cl]ristmas scenes, box frame pictures. Plaques and wreaths. All well attended and you can see from the photos how beautiful they are. In February we had a vcry good Health day.29 ladies attended. Kathy from TCV gave a very infornlative talk on sprouting vegetables and micro greens . She had a display of these and we got tasting thcm. This was followed by a nutritionist ,Jacqueline Kartin, giving an in depth tslk on healthy eating. We finished off the day with a healthy buffet meal Trips are always a must for our ladies. In February we went for a short day trÉp to Junction one,Antrim. Dobbies was the attraction there. Then in September 52 ladies went to Holywood and on to Donaghadee. The third trip was to Rushmere shopping centre in November. 23 ladies went on that trip. Back in June 2 of us attended the 30th anniversary of Swatragh women's group. That was a big affair with music ,a speaker and a buffet meal. We still like to ke in contact with the Swatragh ladies. In order to celebrate our 25th anniversary the committee went out for a meal in The Black Sheep restaurant. Our what's app group keeps getting more contacts. This is very encouraging to know that local people want to come to our events. I would like to thank the committee for all their support throughout the year and for attending meetings . Everybody's opinions and practical help are appreciated. Will and Yvonne ate always very helpful and Will keeps us right when something needs fixed. We could not continue without the help.of our funders. In July we were pleased to receive £19, 980 from Awards for All. A 2 year grant. Mid Ulster Council are always generous. We received £ 1045 for Crochet and Scrapbooking classes and a flask. Compliance with Public Benefit The Charity has given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities entered into during the year have helped to achieve the Charity's objectives and activities. as well as providing public benefit. Financigdl Review Total Payments (£12.958) for the year ended 31" December 2024 were exceeded by Total Receipts (£23,195) by £1 0,237 increasing the total cash funds held to £16.194 from £5,957. (Pages 8&9).
Charitable Purposes The purposes of the LL)up Women's Group is to pmmote activities for the benefit of people in The Loup and surrounding areas without distinction of age, race, political, religious or other opinion. The group will associate with statutory authorities, voluntary organisations and local inhabitants in a common effort to advance education and provide facilities for social interaction with the aim of improving the conditions of life for the said people. Structure, Governance and Management Loup Women's Group is a Registered Charity and is governed by the ternis of its constitution, which was adopted by the membership on 26 Febrnary 2015. Loup Women's Group is registered with the Charity Commission and is placcd on the Northern Ireland register of charities from 7 March 2016. The objectives and activities of the Charity are administered by a Management Committee. which shall consist of not less than five and not more than twenty members and who are elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM is held each year and not rnore than 15 months after the preceding AGM. There shall not be less than five members of the Management Committee present at all General Meetings, including the AGM. Voting is carried out at General Meetings by way of a show of hands or ballot with the Chairperson having the casting vote. Approved by the trustees on W May 2025 and signed on their behalf by: Helen Andrews Chair Patricia Toner Secretary