2025-06-30-annual-report - Ealu

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Ealu

2024/2025 Annual Return

[Covering period 1° July 2024 — 30" June 2025]

Trustees Report

Charity Name: Ealu

Registration No: NIC 107649

Address: Unit 2, 17 Shamble Lane, Dungannon, BT70 1BW

Trustees: Noel Quinn Paul Tierney Siobhan Nugent Shayne Tierney Eileen Shields Brendan Donaghy Sean McNulty Bernard Creggan

Our Aims & Objectives

The support, for the benefit of individuals, their families and the broader community, of exprisoners in terms of self-betterment, well-being, social and economic inclusion, and community re-integration in areas of economic, physical and social deprivation (in Tyrone and throughout the island of Ireland) by all or any of the following means:

Economic regeneration:

e Through the relief of financial hardship and unemployment; e Through the provision of financial assistance, technical assistance or business advice or consultancy in order to provide training and employment opportunities for unemployed people;

Social regeneration:

e Through the advancement of education, training or retraining, particularly among unemployed people, and providing unemployed people with work experience
e the provision of a wide variety of programmes/services which support economic and social inclusion;
e the provision of trauma support services, counselling and wellbeing programmes eg mindscaping;
e the provision of intermediation, peace-building and reconciliation support service and programmes;
e the provision of personal development programmes and dedicated support activities for young people;
e the provision of well-being, educational, heritage and cultural support programmes and activities for older people and the general public
e the provision of a neutral community venue, providing access to a range of free wellbeing, educational, heritage, cultural and social activities, opportunities and events for all ages and backgrounds.

Specific programmes include:

e EMMA (Ealu Mediation; Mindscaping; Art) Project - is a programme of work for our Women's Group that involves a Mindscaping programme which is about dealing with trauma through the creative writing process; a course in Mediating Intra and Inter Community Tensions and an Arts programme which runs weekly throughout the year
e EMER (Ealu Mediation; Empowerment & Resilience) Project — this is a continuation of our EMMA Project and the EMER project will bring women; youth; and older men together from different communities in our area; CNR, PUL, and ethnic minorities, to create strong relationships across communities.
e Womens’s Group — weekly meetings here in Ealu and social outings with other women’s groups
e Mindscape project — which works to support any individual or group suffering conflict-related trauma — PTSD, prolonged grief
e Youth physical fitness programme — which delivers a programme for our youth e Workshop “Men’s Shed” - enhances the mental health of ex POW’s e Mediation — this is an ongoing programme which EALU provides to our local community, this helps create new mediators
e The Critical Dialogue programme, — which supports developing inter-community relationships and networks that we previously would not have had access to and this has contributed significantly to our learning and vision for the future.
e Writing and Art project — which works to support woman with grief and trauma e Health and Wellbeing Programme — which works to provide yoga and meditation classes, counselling and support to the vulnerable in our community.
e Building the capacity of the disaffected young people Programme — which supports our youth who regularly seek our support and advice, especially when problems/issues arise for them.
e Community Minibus — providing this service to our local community and in particular our rural community, youth groups and women’s groups.
e JRCT Activities — provides mediation services to our local community, this is an ongoing programme for EALU, eg domestic disputes, mediation between young people and different groups who come from within these communities.

EALU’S Activities & Achievements

EMMA (Eala Mediation; Mindscaping; Art) Project — (funded by The National Lottery) is a programme of work for our Women's Group that involves a Mindscaping programme which is about dealing with trauma through the creative writing process; a course in Mediating Intra and Inter Community Tensions and an Arts programme which runs weekly throughout the year

Feedback from an EMMA participant: “I have been involved with the EMMA Project for over a year now, the support I get from the group has changed me both socially and emotionally — I am more confident in the group settings”

EMER (Eali Mediation; Empowerment & Resilience) Project — this is a continuation of our EMMA Project and the EMER project brings women; youth; and older men together from different communities in our area; CNR, PUL, and ethnic minorities, to create strong relationships across communities. Through Personal development; mediation training; and creative opportunities people come together to improve their resilience, mental health, and the lives of their families and communities.

Feedback from an EMER participant: “I found out about Ealt through another Portuguese friend who recommended the EMER project, I can’t recommend it enough, I really enjoy the different classes and I am happy to meet other people from ethnic backgrounds”.

Mindscape — (funded by SSGT and The National Lottery), this course was developed by EALU under the direction of writer and facilitator Maura Johnston and the Co-Ordinator of EALU Frankie Quinn in which the participant paints and writes to tell their story. The course can be shared with other groups and individuals in any community or any country as a gateway to dealing with individual and group trauma using poetry and art to express grief.

Feedback from a Mindscape participant “I started this course recently and I wish I had started it sooner, it is very therapeutic and I am really enjoying it”

Youth physical fitness programme — (funded by SSGT, The National Lottery). this programme consists of boxercise and talks on anti-sectarianism, personal growth and confidence building. This keeps the young adults occupied, empowers them to become better adults, more inclined to keep fit and to stay away from the drug and alcohol scene and leading to better community co-ordination and our future community leaders.

Feedback from Youth physical fitness participant “I started attending this program after a recommendation from a friend — I wish I had known about it sooner, a brilliant class fore the youth of the area”

Workshop “Men’s Shed Project” — (funded by SSGT, The National Lottery) enhances the mental health of ex POW’s by making different crafts items. The women’s group also use the workshop for art, flower arranging, pot building and painting.

Feedback from Workshop “Men’s Shed” participant “I have recently started attending this project and I have learned so much already, these skills will be very useful for me”

Mediation — (funded by JRCT, SSGT, The National Lottery) EALU provides mediation between families, travellers and other organisations. This service has proved invaluable to our local community as disputes often prolong and the community feel EALU offers a safe space to talk.

Feedback from family member who received mediation “I have found this service EALU provides to be invaluable, I have been with them a few times now and can’t recommend it enough, they are very professional in what they do”

Our Women’s Art Project (funded by SSGT and The National Lottery) which works to support Women with grief and trauma. They have developed an Arts Project/Exhibition and are hoping to develop a Social Economy Project to market their work and a publication with some film clips chronicling stories and memories of the conflict and its impact. This involves training and skills building with enhanced learning from other groups of women in Derry and PUL in Ballymoney, Mid-Antrim and Fermanagh. The women’s art continues to be on display in EALU for the public to view. Their art was also on display at The Hill of The O’Neill Dungannon.

Feedback from the Women’s Art Project “I have been attending this project for a while now and I can see how far I have come, both socially and emotionally, I enjoy the company of the other women who we all have similar experiences with”

The Critical Dialogue Programme - (funded by SSGT) which supports developing intercommunity relationships and networks that we previously would not have had access to and this has contributed significantly to our learning and vision for the future. This will entail continuing to organize workshops and hosting visits with other constituency and peacebuilding activists; discussing and or/legacy issues impacting locally and beyond; monitoring/discussing Brexit/Border Poll concerns; convening meetings to keep the local community informed; and continuing our engagement with the Churches Inter-Constituency group in Belfast. At times, the Critical Dialogue programme involves training workshops, engaging facilitators and speakers, plus the organization of events to the wider community.

Feedback from The Critical Dialogue Programme “I have beena facilitator with the Critical Dialogue Programme for 2 years now, at the workshop that I run I find more people of all ages engaging and wanting to discuss issues in their areas”

Health and Wellbeing Programme - (funded by SSGT) which works to provide yoga classes, counselling and support to the vulnerable in our community. This programme allows EALU to maintain and build our health and wellbeing programme which involves counselling/signposting, building relationships with agencies and service providers, and supporting and developing our Workshop “Men’s Shed Social Economy and Therapy Project”.

Feedback from the Health and Wellbeing Programme “The support I continue to receive from EALU has been invaluable in maintaining my mental health”

Building the capacity of the disaffected young people Programme - (funded by SSGT) which supports our youth who regularly seek our support and advice, especially when problems/issues arise for them. This includes dealing with youth justice issues, social services, education bodies and training agencies. It also involves workshops and courses to be delivered in our training space. Confidence building and capacity remain big issues for many young people who are vulnerable to both the drugs scene and/or recruitment to disaffected armed group.

Feedback from Building the capacity of the disaffected young people Programme “By attending this programme I feel I have a safe space to come and talk about any issues I have, I feel very supported”

Focus of Work

The main focus of EALU’S work is to provide a shared space to promote economic, social, educational, cultural, artistic, good-relations, peacebuilding and other activities across the social divide to improve the conditions of life for the residents of Tyrone and surrounding environs and North Armagh and Monaghan. To stamp out sectarianism and racism.

Principal Funding Sources

The key funders of EALU include: The Joseph Rowntree Trust; St Stephen’s Green Trust; Clothworkers Foundation, The National Lottery and local council.

Structure, Governance and Management

The company was formed on 1“ July 2016. The company was granted charitable status on the 26" October 2020.

Recruitment and Appointment of the Board of Directors

The directors of Ealu are also charity trustees for the purposes of charity law and under the company’s Articles are known as members of the Board. Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, one third of the members of the Board must stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting.

Members, Induction and Training

The board members are already familiar with the work of EALU and board members are encouraged to participate in relevant activities. The Board members underwent dedicated governance training (delivered by Kevin Hippsley in Rathmor) in 2020 to reflect the additional requirements of the organization as a registered charity.

Obligations of the Board

The main obligations of the Board are to develop and oversee the implementation of policy and to ensure that structures and management complies with legal requirements and good governance practice.

Organisational Structure

The organizational structure (for the reporting period covered) consists of 8 trustees and 2 employees, which include a Project Co-Ordinator and admin staff.

Risk Management

The directors have assessed the major risks to which the company is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the company, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate the exposure to the major risks.

How EALU has mitigated any harm flowing from its purposes

EALU operate under strict governance oversight, process and procedure. Our programmes adhere to clear and comprehensive internal policies / guidance and external parameters determined by funders, management agents and government departments. Employees and the Board are supported and encouraged to take whatever training is necessary to prepare them for their role and support their day-to-day activities (e.g. Governance Training or Safeguarding Training etc). Regular reporting is provided to each and every funder and each programme undergoes initial and ongoing risk analysis to determine what if any risks are posed by the programme (in regard to harm to users, participants, workers, the community, the funder or the organisation). In this way — any potential harm is identified and specific measures established to mitigate risk from the outset and as circumstances change or new activities are planned. EALU also take care to survey the needs of our user base and indeed the wider community — before any new programme/ service is planned; and we also endeavour to capture and take on board as much feedback as well in order to evaluate the effectiveness of our charitable work. This allows us to monitor any potential areas of harm — and mitigate where possible.

How EALU has ensured that any private benefit has been incidental to the public benefit

All our activities are directed towards solely providing a public benefit — any private benefit generated is purely incidental. Trustees or employees of the Charity are ineligible and prohibited from accessing any of the services or supports which our programmes offer. The only private benefits accrued are purely in relation to the roles and responsibilities of workers. For example our Women’s Group project worker may attenda residential (thus benefitting from the charitable work) in their essential supervisory capacity only. Additionally, employees may benefit, for example, from training (which they attend in a supervisory role alongside participants or via direct training — where it is deemed essential for their role, i.e. safeguarding training) but again any benefit is purely incidental. Each programme works within strict guidelines, with strict controls on personal expenses, and with all expenditure scrutinised at multiple levels to ensure appropriateness, fair value and necessity.

Statement of compliance in regard to the Commission’s guidance

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 beneficiaries.

Signed by EALU Board of Trustees

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