Citizen Sea Trustees Report Year Ended 31 July 2022
The Trustees of the Charity Citizen Sea presents its directors ’ report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2022.
| Directors | Mr Randy Repass Junior |
|---|---|
| Mr John Campbell | |
| Mr Jonathan Houghton | |
| Mr Justin Judge | |
| Ms Gala Podgornik | |
| Ms Joyce Anderson | |
| Company Number | NI663277 |
| NI Charity Commission | |
| Registered Office | PO Box Unit 531 |
| Moat House | |
| 54 Bloomfield Avenue | |
| Belfast | |
| BT5 5AD | |
| Accountant | DDJ Coulter |
| Clements Hill | |
| 77 Green Road | |
| Ballyclare BT39 9PH |
Our Aims and objectives
Purposes and Aims
Our charity ’ s purposes as set out in the objects contained in the company ’ s memorandum of association are to: encourage participation in the love, protection and appreciation of the marine environment.
Activities
In mid 2021, the Charity’s vessel a classic wooden Scottish ring-netter named the Seabird was relocated to a berth in Belfast Harbour Commissioner’s Marina in the Abercorn Basin, at the back of the W5. It was decided this move would give the Charity a more visible platform from which to deliver it’s key objectives and engage with the public.
A number of key events involving the Seabird during the year delivery this International Coastal Cleanup ICC and Belfast Maritime Festival, delivered on all fronts.
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3 tons of litter collected from the Belfast Harbour coastline,
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over 600 visitors on board Seabird during the Maritime Festival
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Sign up of over 120 volunteers to our database to engage with and help the Charity in the future.
Activities
The employment of Karina Robinson during this year as a Consultant to the Charity greatly assisted and coordinated the above activities and to this end resulted in various activities for the new volunteers to assist with their knowledge, experience and potential employment in the marine environment
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Training in Sea Survival
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Training in Fire Fighting
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Day Skipper Licenses
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First Aid
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Regular Tuesday night meetings on Seabird gave the new volunteers a platform to launch new ideas, initiatives for maintaining the vessel, learning new skills such as tying nautical knots and keeping the Harbour clean.
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Seeking and applying for new funding opportunities.
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Establishing a Google Drive with Mail, Chat and chat groups for various levels of engagements with Volunteers.
Directors
In early 2022, the Chairman, Randy Repass identified a number of potential Directors for their specific knowledge and skills. John Houghton Professor in Marine Biology at Queen’s University; John Campbell, originally a Volunteer and assisted with the Google Drive and had previous managed the IT department at Belfast Harbour Commissioners before moving to his current post in 2022; Marine Biologists, Gala Podgornik and Justin Justin both with a wealth of knowledge regarding DAERA, WOW, Ulster Wildlife etc. Joyce Anderson who previously ran the Lagan Boat Tours in the Harbour and the Charity Lagan Legacy on the Belfast Barge and Joe Breen, retired from DAERA earlier that year.
The first meeting of the new Board took place in April 2022 at the AC Marriott Hotel and Joyce Anderson was requested to consider the role of Secretary. The Agenda was discussed in detail and a number of volunteers joined the group to hear their prospective on various items. A number of Zoom meetings/ Chats in the period to end August 2022 took place with all involved.
Employment Opportunities -
Consultant
Karina’s contacts and work in completing an Application to Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful successfully ensured the Charity ordering the Waste Shark from RanMarine Technologies in Germany. This remote controlled drone is powered by electric and collects the debris in the water in it’s inner basket. The delivery of the Wasteshark occurred in late September 2022 and will transform technically and logistically the Charities capacity to engage with the public and clean up the marine environment.
In April 2022 the Charity was saddened to see Karina Robinson resign and take up a new post with the National Trust. Her enthusiasm, ideas and work ethic certainly enhanced the profile of the Charity and volunteers over her tenure with the Charity.
Project Coordinator
During the summer of 2022, the post of Project Coordinator was advertised widely and given the initial wide response the applicants were reduced down to 6 and the best applicant Monica McCard took up the post at the end of July 2022. Half of the funding for this post has been secured by the Repass Rogers Foundation. Match funding was to be
sought for this full time post. By the end of August 2022, Monica had made a significant impact on the volunteers and activities of the Charity.
Funding
Financial assistance from both Belfast Harbour Commissioners and the Repass Rogers Foundation assisted with the activities mentioned above along with donations and small contributions for attending events.
Grants and funding opportunities for the Environment and People’s Well Being continued to be identified but failed due to the lack of a recognised high street bank being in place. During this year Soldo provided the Charity with banking facilities but it was recognised the opening of a reputable high street bank such the Danske Bank was a prerequisite to the future of the Charity.
Accountant
Dean Coulter was appointed as the Charity’s Accountant in late August 2022. Completion of the Year Ending 31 July 2022 occurred in late December with approval and sign off by the Chairman and Secretary on the 20th January 2023.