St Colmcille’s Guide Unit
ANNUAL REPORT CHARITY COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
| 1.Charity Name as listed on the Charity Register | St Colmcille's Belfast Guide Unit - Cgi |
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| 2. Any other names the charity is known by | N/a |
| 3. Financial year the report is for | Year ended 31 August 2022 |
| 4. CCNI Charity Registration Number | 107414 |
| 5. The address from which the Charity Operates (usually your Meeting Place) This should be the address that the charity used when registering unless it has changed. |
St Colmcille's Guide Unit, St Colmcille's Parish, 191 Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 3JB |
| 6. The names of all our Trustees at the date this report was approved plus any who stepped down as a trustee during the year |
Miss Roisin McMullan Miss Philomena Dawson Annemarie Hunter Mrs Sarah Greene Miss Lisa Owens |
| Rev. Vincent Cushnahan |
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7. A summary description of the purposes of the charity
The purpose of the Unit is to provide the Guiding Programme of the Catholic Guides of Ireland, which promotes and fosters the spiritual, moral, cultural, intellectual, social and physical development of its members, to girls and young women at a local level.
| 7. A summary description of the purposes of the charity The purpose of the Unit is to provide the Guiding Programme of the Catholic Guides of Ireland, which promotes and fosters the spiritual, moral, cultural, intellectual, social and physical development of its members, to girls and young women at a local level. |
7. A summary description of the purposes of the charity The purpose of the Unit is to provide the Guiding Programme of the Catholic Guides of Ireland, which promotes and fosters the spiritual, moral, cultural, intellectual, social and physical development of its members, to girls and young women at a local level. |
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| 8. The name of any person, or body of persons, permitted by the trusts of the charity to appoint one or more new charity trustees and a description of the method used to make such appointments If there is any individual or organisation with the power to appoint charity trustees, such as another charity or a government department, provide their details, the relevant powers, and methods of appointment. |
N/A |
| 9. Include details of any funds held by the charity as a custodian trustee This is mandatory for charities preparing accruals accounts. |
N/A |
10. Charity’s Main Activities and Achievements during the year.
The following is taken from the report made at the Unit’s AGM on 15[th] October 2022 by the Unit Leader Miss Roisin McMullan
Membership: Total membership at the 31[st] August 2022 was 47 youth members consisting of 8 Rangers, 9 Guides, 20 Brigini and 10 Cygnets,
Leadership: The unit had 11 leaders and 3 parent helpers throughout the year. The Ranger section was headed up by Kerry McEvoy with other leaders helping out when needed. Guide section was headed up Roisin McMullan and Lauren McKissick. Brigin section was headed up with Anne Marie Hunter, Katriana Rodgers and Lily Maxwell with Joanne Gallagher and Laura Stitt as parent helpers. The Cygnet Section was headed up with Sinead Verdon, Anna McLaughlin, and Lucia Murphy with Maureen Verdon as a Parent Helper. Philomena Dawson has the role as Unit Treasurer.
Programme and Unit Activities: This was the first year back in since we had to stop face to face meetings in March 2020 due to COVID. All sections met regularly and participated in various activities throughout the year.
- Rangers The girls in the Ranger section have all moved up from guides this year, and this was
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Kerry’s 1[st] year heading up this section. The girls took a while to settle into the section and taking on the responsibility of planning their own programme. The girls held a number of challenge evenings, a spa night, quiz nights, games night as well as cooking evenings. A number of meetings were held away from the den which including visiting the Zombie Outbreak Escape Room. With the girls doing GCSEs a few meetings had to be cancelled from Easter to the end of June.
Guides - With the Guide section having low numbers during the year it was challenging to find games that were suitable for the numbers involved. The 1[st] part of the year there were still precautions still in place such as the wearing of face masks, social distancing and not sharing equipment, this did not stop the girls have a fun at their weekly meetings. The girls had a number of outings such as bowling, and a visit to an escape room in the City Centre. The girls participated in a fun day at the Scout Centre, Crawfordsburn at the end of June. Unfortunately the girls were unable to have a summer camp due to suitable dates not being available for leaders and girls.
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Brigin - The Brigin section had a varied programme throughout the year, incorporating badge work into the programme. The girls also had a First Aid Evening and a Mindfulness evening where parents came in and ran. Throughout the year the girls visited CS Lewis Square to visit Mr Tummus and celebrate The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Another hit with the girls was a Saturday pyjama party with the movie, Encanto followed by pizza from Little Wings. Father Vincent Cushnahan enrolled 14 girls during the month of June at a special ceremony in the den. At the end of June the girls had a overnight indoor camp at the Scout Centre in Crawfordsburn, this was followed with a day of activities on Saturday.
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Cygnets - The Cygnet section had a completely new intake of members, since this was the 1[st] time the section has had face to face meetings since March 2020. As the girls have been living with restrictions over the last couple of years, the leaders realised the girls were finding it hard to share and playing team games. The girls did a range of crafts including scratch art bookmarks, painting ceramic pots and making suncatchers. The girls had a trip to We Are Vertigo, which went down really well and visit Stormont Park.
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Equipment:
With the use of grants received during the year the unit bought a desk for the office, some cooking utensils and equipment, a fogging machine, and a gazebo.
Trustees:
In setting our objectives and planning our activities for the year the trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity’s purposes and provide a benefit to the
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beneficiaries.
Conclusion:
It was great to see all sections up and running again after COVID. All sections manage a varied programme with a mixture of meetings in the den and away from the den. Philomena Dawson, the current Unit Treasurer has been a member of the Unit since it’s formation in 1971 and received her 50 year’s membership award at the Regional AGM in November 2021.
11. How is the Group doing financially?
A review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the year:
In the financial year ended 31 August 2022 the Charity had an income of £9,763.00 and an expenditure of £8,372.00
12. How has the Unit ensured members have not come to harm?
All leaders and parent helpers receive training in Safeguarding, which is renewed every 2 years and are Access NI every 3 years. Leaders are required to attend Step One Guiders Course. Other training is available to leaders such as Step 2 and Advanced Leaders training. A valid Camp Warrant must be held by at least one leader who wishes to take the young people away either indoors or outdoors, this includes doing First Aid which needs to be updated every 3 years. Parents are regularly updated with planned activities. All activities are carefully planned and the appropriate equipment used.
13. How has your Unit ensured that any private benefit to your volunteers has been incidental to the public benefit of your work?
Volunteers gain additional transferrable skills but this is incidental to the work that they do and are the skills that they require to undertake that work.
14. A statement that the Trustees have had regard to the CCNIs guidance on Public Benefit.
We the Trustees of St Colmcille’s Guide Unit can confirm that in setting our objectives and planning for the year that we have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity’s purposes and provide a benefit to the beneficiaries.
15. This report was approved by the Trustees at Unit Council on 3[rd] June 2023
16. Signature of Trustees
Trustee 1 : Roisin McMullan Date: 3[rd] June 2023
Trustee 2: Philomena Dawson Date: 3[rd] June 2023
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