Ballybeen Mens Motivational Group
Trustees Annual Report
The Trustees of Ballybeen Mens Motivational Group have focused on our public benefit mission statement throughout this reporting year:
“To promote the health and well-being of men in the Ballybeen area, incorporating their families, by encouraging social interaction between men, through a continued process of developing their confidence by delivering a range of activities aimed at improving their social, physical and mental wellbeing”
1. Governance – Operational Protocols
BMMG is directed by a combination of Trustees and committees, all of which are led and co-ordinated by Board and Committee chairs. The Committees are made up of local residents, schools and stakeholders from the private sector and social enterprise organisations, supported by a significant amount of volunteers. Regular meetings are conducted, supported by a clear, concise and consistent communication process (on a daily, weekly and monthly basis). Meetings are managed with good governance in mind, which is facilitated through a process of established agendas, recording of minutes and monitoring of actions, with assigned responsibilities to specific coordinators. Programme design, development and delivery is fully planned, costed, advertised and delivered with ‘value for money’ in mind, and quality assurance of delivery observed and monitored, in particular when accredited training courses are delivered with an associated awarding organisation. Reports and planning are discussed and passed at monthly board and committee meetings, which facilitates an effective and efficient governance, reporting and monitoring process.
2. Financial Governance
The Board of Trustees and associated and appointed Committee Chairs and Office Bearers, as well as independent examiner (Accountant), deliver the financial governance, management, reporting and monitoring is insured through the effective and efficient process of regular meetings conducted with a very robust financial reporting process, which is a consistent and significant item on the agenda. The financial monitoring is supported by a clear and concise communication process on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The role of Treasurer leads the financial reporting and monitoring, and reports this to the Trustees, allowing them to review and scrutinize the financial transactions. The Treasurer also assists with the setting of budgets, monitoring of cash flow and approving expenditure transactions. The financial aspect of meetings are managed with good governance in mind, which is facilitated through a process of established agendas, recording of financial reporting and associated documentation, recorded in minuted.
3. Replacement and Recruiment of Committee Members and Volunteers
Through a process of conducting an annual AGM, Committee members and volunteers are renewed or replaced. Organisational needs are consistently monitored in order to identify functional areas within the organisation where we require critical skills and competencies; this then forms part of our
recruitment strategy. Recruitment is open to the local community and is advertised through a range of medias, ensuring that BMMG conducts a robust, fair, transparent and competency focused process. All associated ‘safeguarding’ training and Access NI certification is implement where necessary, and monitored consistently.
4. Training and Skills
The Trustees and Board conduct a professional review of the required skills and competencies which the BMMG volunteers require, benchmarking these against BMMG strategic planning to ensure the maintenance of current skills to existing requirements. In addition, to facilitate the recruitment of Trustees, Board and Committee members are recruited with the appropriate skills to enable BMMG to function with good governance and professional integrity. The succinct identification and integration of volunteer competencies is required in order in order to design, develop, deliver, review and quality assure all training and development; this is a key area of BMMG’s organisational skills development and current strategy.
5. Proactive Connection with Other Organisations
Throughout the past year, the BMMG has been working in collaboration with a range of strategic and community stakeholders from the public and private sector for support or advice. For example; PCSP, Inspire Business Centre, local churches and LCCC. The collaboration and ‘Community Cohesive Development’ with other stakeholders facilities an integrated approach to ‘Learning and Developing’ through cohesive and connected community integration. Whilst simultaneously building capacity, both within the BMMG, and throughout the wider community.
6. Making A Difference
BMMG is consistently monitoring and reviewing its wide range of stakeholder groups throughout the wider community in order to continue to understand what has worked well, and to identify areas for further development, including ‘innovation’ of service delivery. On reflection of the continued demand, it is evident that BMMG (particularly ‘The Mens Shed’ and ‘The Hens Shed’) are making a significant difference to the ‘Physical and Mental Wellbeing’ of the BMMG beneficiaries, measured by the consistent maintenance and significant increase of regular users attending, as well as growing demand from local community stakeholders to engage and participate across both areas annoted above. Given that BMMG is governed, led and integrated with the local community, it engages seamlessly and allows for concise communication which facilitates a qualitive feedback communication process. This enables BMMG to review, monitor and evaluate the quality and consistency of the service offer.
Mr S Thompson
Date: 1/11/2023
Chair & Trustee BMMG (Appointed in September 2021)