Portaferry Gala Festival
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)
Year ended 31 March 2023
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023.
Reference and administrative details
| Registered charity name | Portaferry Gala Festival |
|---|---|
| Charity registration number | NIC107681 |
| Company registration number | NI638733 |
| Principal office and registered | 40 Shore Road |
| office | Portaferry |
| Newtownards | |
| Co Down | |
| BT22 1JZ |
The trustees
| Mr D Gabbie | |
|---|---|
| Mrs C Mageean | |
| Ms M Ritchie | |
| Mrs P O'Neill | |
| Ms C Keating (Resigned 12 | |
| October 23) | |
| Ms A Campbell (Resigned 11 | |
| October 22) | |
| Independent examiner | Imelda Rogan (FCA) Rogan Accountancy Limited Chartered |
| Accountants & Registered Auditors | |
| Sketrick House | |
| Jubilee Road | |
| Newtownards | |
| Co Down | |
| BT23 4YH |
Structure, governance and management
Background
Portaferry Gala Festival began its life back in 1967 as an unincorporated entity, set up by a group of philanthropic locals. At that time, the late Brian Falkner (then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland), was encouraging local towns and villages to set up festivals within their areas to help foster community relations. The idea of setting up such a festival in Portaferry quickly gained momentum and in 1967, Portaferry Festival was born in combination with the Portaferry Development Association.
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Portaferry Gala Festival
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2023
Structure, governance and management (continued)
Legal Structure
Portaferry Gala Festival was originally set up as an unincorporated entity, governed by its constitution, but was subsequently incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee on 27 May 2016 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Portaferry Gala Festival is a registered charity, regulated by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (charity number NIC 107681).
Portaferry Gala Festival is currently governed by a Board of four Trustees (also known as Directors). The Board can co-opt new Trustees as and when required. The Chairperson is elected from the Trustees and is ratified at the Annual General Meeting.
New Trustees are briefed on their legal obligations, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee and decision making process and any ongoing pertinent issues. They are free to discuss any issue with other Trustees. Trustees are ultimately responsible to the Board through the Chairperson.
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Portaferry Gala Festival
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2023
Objectives and activities
Charitable objects
The Charity's objects are to benefit the inhabitants of Portaferry and its environs without distinction of gender,sexual orientation, age, disability, race, ethnicity, or political, religious of other opinion and in particular to:-
(1)Advance community development for the benefit of the public by:
(a)providing facilities for and organise community and family events in the interests of social welfare for recreation and other leisure-time occupations with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants;
(b)promoting tourism and other sustainable means of achieving economic growth and regeneration.
(2)Promote diversity, equality, good race and community relations, inter-cultural understanding and social harmony through activities that:
(a)foster increased mutual understanding and respect between people of diverse backgrounds; and
(b)cultivate a sentiment in favour of equality and diversity.
(3)Advance education and training for the public benefit by organising classes, courses and programmes.
(4)Encourage community participation in healthy recreation by organising and promoting sports and recreational events that are capable of improving health and wellbeing.
(5)Promote arts and culture by encouraging community participation in creative arts and organising cultural and arts initiatives and events.
Activities
Originally taking place during the traditional holiday period in Northern Ireland, in recent years the Gala Committee has staged various events at other times of the year such as Halloween and Christmas. The Gala Committee has increased its audience by engaging effectively with social media and during the July festival Ferry FM, the Gala's own radio station, is broadcast locally and is available around the world online.
Strategic report
The following sections for achievements and performance and financial review form the strategic report of the charity.
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Portaferry Gala Festival
Company Limited by Guarantee
Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (continued)
Year ended 31 March 2023
Achievements and performance
Activities during the year
2022 saw Gala celebrate it's 55th Anniversary. As we slowly emerged from the very challenging two year period that was Covid, it was good to be able to return to our usual week long programme featuring old as well as some new events, all of which proved very popular and were enjoyed by all. Once again many events were ticketed via Eventbrite and sold out quickly.
The Board and Committee used socially distance face to face meetings to ensure the continuation of effective governance arrangements and guidelines that were in place.
Financial review
The results for the year are set out in detail on page 7 onwards. At the year end the company had unrestricted reserves of £16,879 and restricted reserves of £443. During the year we generated an overall deficit of £2,871.
Plans for future periods
Plans for the forthcoming year will see Gala applying for funding to organise events to promote and attract more visitors to Portaferry and the Ards Peninsula. We will also continue to develop our programme of events and continue to offer our enriching activities and events to the locale.
The trustees' annual report and the strategic report were approved on 5 November 2023 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:
Mr D Gabbie Director
Mrs P O'Neill Director
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