REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: N1644575 (Noi"tliern Ii'eland) REGISTERED CHAJIITY NUMBER: NIC 10679.% ort of tlie Tru51ee$ Unaudited Financial Statejncnts for the Year Ended 31 M&reh 2023 for Belfast SamarilAns Llmitcd b Guarantee Acom an Lynn Drake & Co Ltd Chartered Accountants I st Floor 34 B-D Main Street Moira Co. Armagh BT67 OLE Belfast Samaritans Reference And A(Iniinistrativc Details for th¥ Year Li nded 31 mai.ch 2023 TRUSTEI Ei S Kenneth Bamford Robert Bell {appointed 141612022) Bei'iiai-d O Louglilin (appointed 231812022) Susan Cunniiigham (resigned 141612022) Dorothy McKeown Rosanna O'Hagan (resigned 51512022) James Ramsey Heatlier McKiiislry 14eailier Card051 COMPANY SKCRETARY Heather Cardosi REGISTERED OFFICE 5 Wellesley Avenue Belfast Co. Antriin BT9 6D(i REGISTERCD COMPANY NUMBER N1644575 (Flortl)erii Ireland) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER NIC 106795 INDEPENDnNT EXAMINER Lynn Drake & Co Ltd Cliartered Accountaiits 1st Floor 34 B-D Main Stre¢l Moira Co. Armagh BT67 OLE STOCKBROKERS Evelyn Partners The Ewart 3 Bedford Slreet Belfast BT2 7EP BANKERS Ulster Bank Liinited 91-93 University Road Belfast BT7 ING Belfast Samai'itans ort of the Trustees for the Year fi n(led 31 Marcli 2023 ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Belfast Sainarita115 has been serviiig tlie coiiiiiiunily since it first o￿ned its doors in 1961 aiid lias ooiitinLied to be available 365 days of the year since thei). AltlioLigli soinewhat less affected by th¢ pandeinic tliis year, the last 12 Inontlis have still pi'oved cliall¢iiging as the branch s¢eks to operate 24 houj'slday, 7 dayslweek. There have been some minimal ad lioc dilly losiii'es. We coiitinue to nionitor and improve the staiidard and coiisistency of our service by eiisui'ing quality aiid safegLiarding pi'ocesses are updated and iniplemeiited across all ar¢a5 of the seivi¢e, aiid following guidance fi'oin Saniai'itaiis Cenlral Charity- Dui-ing the year u￿￿ted training in Safeguarding and in the coiisisteiit application of Key Inaiidatory policies was rolled out to voluiiteers. Belfasl law firm Carson McDowell continued their support of the branch as their Chai-ity parti)er for tlie yeAI' 2022. Triily iinpressive fuiidraisiiig efforts througliout the year included a Retro Sports Day for staff aiid ¢lienls, Bake sales and Carol-singing at Belfasi City 14all and maiiy otliei- event5, al l of wliich meaiit tliat at tlic coiicliision ovei. £16,000 had beeii raised for brancli funds. Samaritaiis Central Charity launched a new five-year strategy at Ihe heart of whicli is tlie proinotion of Equity> Div¢rsity and Inclusioi). As pai't of this, the braiich brouglit foi'ward plans to improve access to the bl'anch with ihe installation of a substantial rajnp and automalic doors whi¢li were iinplaiiled during tlie Spriiig of 2023, Grant support for a Si￿71f1¢anI propoTlion of this work was secured froin Sainaritans Irelaiid project funds. Coiitacts Dui-ing the 12-Inonth period to 31 March 2023, Belfast braiich has supported our callers in tlie followiijg ways.. Responded to alinost 30,000 teleplione calls. involviiig volunteers spending 76001)ours on the phoi)e Replied to 260 cinails Had approxiinately 280 online chal conversatioiis. As pai't of a rcoi-gaiiisation of Iiow s¢rvic¢s ar¢ delivered to callers, in Octobei. 2022 the einail sei'vice d¢liv¢i-od by volunteers in braiiches was brouglit to a close and migrated to a volunteer 'hub' maiiaged ¢ls¢where in Sainaritans. This coinpletcd a journey for tlie branch tliat bcgan in 2001, lil the time since, Belfast volunteers responded to over 57.000 emails from callers. Belfast coiitinues to be one of a limited number of branches eiigaging in tlie continued pilot of ali online cliat service, which is recetving positive feedback from ¢alleTS and appears to eiicourage tliose that niay iiot coiisid¢i' coiitact by aiiy other ineans. Volunteers Belfast Samaritans could not opei'ale without the dedicatioii aiid skil l of oui. volunteei-5 wlio lead tlie branch in ev¢ry aspect of its work. We tliank each and every one of tliem for tlieir coiitii)ued commilinent to the iieeds of our callers. It should be noted that in addition to lime spent dui'ing callei. coiitact, sigiiificaiil Iioui's are speiit by those voluiiteei's wl)o fulfil tlie inany and varled role5 ii)cluding voliinteeT recruitment, trainiiig aiid mentOTing and charity governance, all of which keep the branch operational. Belfast Samaritans ort of the Trustees I'or tlie Y¢81' llded 31 M9r¢h 2023 FINANCIAL REVIEW The cliarity liad a 7)et deficit for the yeai. of £1,176 (2022; Surplus £25,521). Investment in¢ome losses for the year aiY]ounted to £19,068 (2022:Gains £5,126). This suminates to a total net deficit of fuiids for tlie year of £20.244 (2022: Siii'plus £30,647. This is sub d ivided by a decrease in unrestricted funds, of £21,703 and ali incr¢as¢ in restricted funds of £1,459. Iii l iiie with Samaritans guidelines tlie Trustees are required to niaintain a reserwe of up to 12 months tradii)g. Tli¢ Ti'ust¢es feel it 15 priident to niaintaiii exti'a reserves that are designated to cuver tlie substantial costs thal in8y be associated with improving oui. premises. To maintain the oii-goii)g work of tlie blanch, we are extremely grAteful to individuals,oi'ganisations, businesses, tlie public and Inai)y of the braii¢h's owii voluiiteers who have raised fuiids foi usldonated. IUTURE PLANS As Ilie pandemic sltuation has stabilised and abated tlie branch is increasingly returiiing to more typical style of operation, Howev¢r, the face-to-face suppoi'l of ¢all¢i's within tlie brancli reinains susp¢nded. This was in response to a central decision by Sainaritans. This situation has iiow beeli updated to enable branches to Inake a pliased return to siich support of callers. However, Ihe turnover of voluiiteer5 since Mai'cl12020 Inean tliat a Inajority of currei)t volunteers are iiiifainiliai, witli this activity. A itturn lo face to face siipport will reqiiire Substantial traiiiiiiE effort as well as appropTiate risk assessment and additioiial Ineasures to meet tlie iiew eiiliaiiced Samaritans specification for how tl)e service is to be delivered, Wliilst botl) General and Schools Outreach and Prisons Outreach teams ar¢ bcginnii)g to re-¢slablish tlieii. activities, tlie extended period of suspensioii of tliese activities lias meaiit thal tlie teams will need a pei'iod of i'ecovei'y and re-biiilding lo en511re i'obiisl availability. It coiilii)ues to be oiir aspiration to provide iinproved facilities for voliiiiteers, staff aiid visitoi's to the braiicli iii Welles ley Avenue. In addition to the above-i)ientioiied raiiip aiid auloinatioii of dooi's, soine fii'in plaiis ar¢ beiiig dcvcloped to iimpi'ove the geiieral operatiiig eiivironment for volunt¢¢rs in¢lud iiig updates to furnilui'e aiid fittings dui'ing tlie incoming year. lii tlie longer tei'm, it is intended to ¢OlTiinence a comprehensive assessmeiit of future iieeds. Tliis was delayed due to Covid restrictioiis. Howevei.. tliere is now ali aiin to start addi'essing the liiiiitations of the cui'i'ent pr¢mises, but tli¢ advice of outsid¢ prof¢ssionals will iieed to be soiiglit before aiiy sigiiificaiit clioioes are Iiiade. Bell'ast SAinaritaDs oi't of the Ti'ustecs Ibr the Year nded 31 March 2023 STATEMEI NT OF TRUSTKES, RESPONSIBILITIEI S - continued 'riie triistees are J'esponsible foi. keepiiig propel. accounting records which disclose with r¢asoiiabl¢ accuracy at any tiine tlie fiiiaiicial positton of the ¢liaritable Coinpaiiy and to enable tliein to ensure tliat the fiiiancial stateiiienls comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for saf¢guardin8 tlie assets of tho cliai'itable coinpany and hence for takiiig reasonable sleps for the prevention and d¢teclion of fi'ved by ordei. of the board of trustees on 20 June 2023 and signed on its behalf by: 14eatliei' Cardosi - Secretary