Rathfern Community Regeneration Group
Reference and AdniinistratAve Details
Trustees
Ms Anna Bond
Mr Alan cra￿￿Ord
Mr George Hill
Mr so1￿ McCle2ve
Ms Stephanie Mewkn
Ms Gladys Magttire
Ms Kathy Godlrey
Ms Diiieen Walker
Mr ThOll￿s 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
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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 gO￿s, 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
Ne￿￿oWn1bbeY 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.
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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 t￿￿te 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 t￿e refurbishment of tli¢ poitacabin out the back for the sole use of the Ratbfein Jimio¥ E.lill
W￿dells. 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
c￿011ne, Ca￿ick 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
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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 Sun￿ller
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 col￿tY Antrim Mr. Davtd Mccoi'khill, also
Pr￿eTht 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
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