Rathfern Community Regeneration Group Reference and AdniinistratAve Details Trustees Ms Anna Bond Mr Alan craOrd Mr George Hill Mr so1 McCle2ve Ms Stephanie Mewkn Ms Gladys Magttire Ms Kathy Godlrey Ms Diiieen Walker Mr ThOlls Kirkham Seeretary Charity Registration Number 107372 Compkmy Registration Number N1660274 The clwity Is incorporated in Northern Lrelalld. 43 1(nockenagh Avenue Newtownabbey Co Antrim BT36 6BE TB Millar & Co Independent Exanjiner 6 Doagh Road Ballyclare Co Antritn BT39 9BG PrAn¢ipal Office Independent Lxaminer Page I
Rathfern Community Regeneration Group Trustees, Report The trustees. who are directors for the purposes OF cornpany law, present the annual report together with the financial statements alld auditors, report of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2024. Objectives and activities Objects aAd airns The ¢harity's objective is that all residents living iJ] the Macedon ward of Newtownabbey enjoy a high qualLty of life, are able to achieve theii econojnic, social 2nd educational gOs, and are parl of a strong, prosperous and caring comniurjity. In order to aehieve its objectives the charity aims to.. -mana¢ye a comEniinity biiilding which provides high qualxty facilities and a range of activities whiclj are accessible to the local comtniwity -continuously develop and update die biiilding to mect the changing needs of the users -develop actlvities that increase puticipation in civic life including OPPOTtLinities for self-developTnent, volunteering and involvement in local decision-making. Publxc benefit The ch&rity has added value by increasing the quality of life for residents iii Rathfern It has developed a inaster pl&n for tlie area as a whole working with the cornmwiity tlll"oiigh con]munity consultstion and pubLic meetings. Programmes are nm which develop ayjployability skills, build social coliesion, improve the general area etnpower those living ill the area to create a better envirorllnellt ui wlll¢h to live. The centlE is becoming the foeal point for ¢ornmunity aotÉvities and is used by a IhTdc range of usets and statutory bodies. Antrim and NeoWn1bbeY BoiYJiiJ(r Coiineil ¢ontribiites to the rLEnning costs of new and existing comjnunity projects in line with Counc£l's Conllnunity Developrnent grant aid progTan]n]e. Page 2
Rathfern Community Regeneration Group Trustees, Report Achievements 2nd p¢rformanLe During the past twelve months, The Sovereign Complex has had a busy tim¢. We have had changes to our Board, with tte new metnbers who had previousl3, been volunteers with us. TILe Board 0£ Directors Itss £eneTally played a Ore in deplh role in the development of the Complex and collectively we have enjoyed lots of good news from ftinders and user groups. We managed to encourage new users Lo the Centre we also introduced a small increase in room hiie to keep up with inflation. Tbe Board, Staff and volunteers have been focusing oll saving on our expelldittire and woiking to keep our elleigy bills down to the minimum. We get up four sub groups to deal with HIL Finance, the Youth Project and Sustainability and Succession planning. Some of the highlights diiring the past year have been the Kings Coronation and the event that we had for the Rathfern Community to celebrate the day. The Board agreed to te refurbishment of tli¢ poitacabin out the back for the sole use of the Ratbfein Jimio¥ E.lill Wdells. This would give tliem their ovon spa¢e 8lld help to Iceep th¢ c¢ntre clean when they have bcen out on the Hill for activities. Hill Warden trip5 for the previous six inonth were to places like the Silent Valley, HMS c011ne, Caick Castle, Marble Arcli Caves. Rathlin Island, the Gobbins Path and Artn&Eh Planetarium. stsff members worked tirelessly to ttun the smaller shed out the back into a Sensory Room for the use of any groups attending the Complex with chAldren on the Specknlln. Our stsff at present are a part time Marnager, one full time and trwo part time Youth Workers, two part time re¢eptionists, orLe part time ¢on)munity meator and o.ne dornestic. The Board of Directors had a residential in Alltr1 which was faciliated by Audrey fvlurray EVIBE. Changes implement¢d from this included the introduction of a stnall staff roorll with lo¢kers, a change in ho]idays to term time, whiclL is expected to save £1,000 to £2,1)00 per annum. It was decided to introduce regular staff tneetings to keep everyone up to date. We contillue to monitor how staff are doing tl]rougl] six n]onthly reviews to encournge re-focus on the tasks ahead and te2un work. We will continue with our recrnittntnt drive for volunteers to help out in the centre specifically the Youth Club. We lield our normal Senior Citizens Christmas dinner, xnd ovcr the Chiistmas period we raised £215 for tools for the Men's Sh¢d which was doubled in kind by Andy's Stores and Councillor Foster in Icind with tools. The Junior HAII WpJdens raised £244 for tlUt trtps la tli¢ Senior Citizens raised £322 to use towards oiitings. To coniplete the Years &¢hievements we have secured our Green Flag statys for our environmental aohievemerLts which is now the fourth year in a row. Finattclal review The Charity had an overall surplus of £23,076 ki) the year. Restricted reserves had been built up siThct Covid -19 with a lot of these being iised during the year, The cbarity's prittcipal sources of th(ling on tlie period were - Antrim and Newiovjnabbey Borough Council - Nationa] Lottery Community Fund - a]ildren in Need Page 3
Rathfern Community Regeneration Group Trustees, Report Plans for future periods Aillis and ktry objÈctivesfo*fulure periods 'fo kick-start a new idea we received a gr2nt of £4,999 from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to pursiie proposals for additional fimd raising activities related to our land out the back- this piece of work would start in April 2024. Ed HanrLa has been tasked to do the business p18n and proposals, wbicb will follow ill the Sunller of 2024. To keep up with inflation we raised the costs of our Birthday parties, as minimujn wage is to be inci'eaged in April 2024 and our costs for electricity and g2S 2re ever irLcreasino To this end Staff and Volunteei's are on an economy drive to keep costs dovm as best we can. As Chairperson of Ratlrfern Conllnunity Regeneration Group I want to say how honouied I have been to lead this group, in what has been our greatest year to date. In Sanuawy 2023 we opell¢d our new complex, & £1 million state of the art centre, which was officially opened by th¢ Mayor of Antiim and Newtownabbey Borough Coiineil, Aldernian Stephen Ross and tlie Lord Lieiitenant of coltY Antrim Mr. Davtd Mccoi'khill, also PreTht was our trood friend Mrs. Jacqiu Dixon MBE as the then Chief Executivc along with membetE of the Council. This invesunent will see us looking foiTvard to the next ten years and it is lip to us to be diligent and iise tlie new eotnplex to it.s best potential for the benefit of tlie entii'e community. I have a strong Board working with me whose interesi is in the cornmllnity along with staff meinbers and voliinieeTS who continue to provide us with feedback as to the coinmunity's n¢eds. We also need to look at our veiiture in the business sense to ensuie we eet all of our expectations and pay our bills on tiLne. Of course we are always loolcing to improve our organisation ill a way that would be an advantage to our young people and especially some fonn of training sessions for young Mothers rtturnin£ to work. Personally I would like a more hands on approa¢h in the arvellous work going on aud I will soon nthke a change to live closer to Rathfern. I have a p&rticu12r intsrtst in the work of the Youtb Club as in my peisonal iipbiinging it was the local club Managed by Divid Jeffries who helped define who l am today. We continue to lobby £or better facilities and to this end our Rathfern Play area is in ryeed of refirbishffl&nt, not through Vandalis I may add but througli Continual usige every day. We havt been told that we are on the list of Antrim and NewrtOWn8bbey Borough Council for the work to be done in June 2024. 1 want lo take this opportunity to thanlc everyone involved in our Rathfern project in the hope that t'hey too can strive to be Lbe jewel in the Community Developnient Crown. Small companies provision staten)ent This report has been prepared in accordance with the small companies regime under the Coinpaiiies Act 2006. The annual report was appi'oved by the trustees of the charity on 14 JuDe 2024 and signed on its bel)alf by.. Mr George Hill Trustee Page 4