2023-01-31-annual-report

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) In Ireland, Ulster Quarterly Mee>ng

Annual Report & Accounts for year ended 31[st] December 2022

Introduc>on

This report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Chari6es (Accounts and Reports) Regula6ons (Northern Ireland) 2015 and in line with the guidance produced by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Cons>tu>on and governance

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) In Ireland, Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng is governed by its governing document which was agreed by the Mee6ng on 15[th] February 2020. The Mee6ng was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland on 19[th] April 2021 with registra6on number NIC 108015.

The Trustees, of whom there should be not less than two, are appointed at the Annual General Mee6ng. They are appointed for a period of up to three years and are eligible for re-appointment for a further two terms. Trustees who served during the year ending 31[st] December 2022 were as follows:

Pleasaunce M Perry (clerk of Trustees)

Daniel H Sinton

W Paul Sinton

The Trustees are responsible for the policies, ac6vi6es and assets of the charity. No Trustee received any remunera6on for services as a member of the Board of Trustees and the charity has no employees.

The Mee6ng has put in place a data protec6on policy, based on guidelines from Ireland Yearly Mee6ng, which is reviewed regularly.

Purposes of the charity

Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng is a Mee6ng for Worship of the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland that prac6ses in accordance with the principles of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers.

The purpose of our charity, as set out in our governing document, is the advancement of the general religious purposes of the Religious Society of Friends by the following means, in so far as they are exclusively charitable:

• i. Strengthening the Chris6an understanding and religious development in the geographical area of Northern Ireland;

• ii. Contribu6ng financially and prac6cally to the relief of suffering at home and abroad;

• iii. Providing for the pastoral care of individual Members and A]enders, including assistance to those in need.

At 31[st] December 2022 we had a total of 662 Members (a net decrease of 6 on the previous year).

Our ac>vi>es during 2022

The first Quarterly Mee6ng in February 2022 was again held online, due to some con6nuing restric6ons from Covid-19. By June we were able to meet in person again, and the opportunity to worship together and enjoy a 6me of fellowship once more was much appreciated.

Several members of the Quarterly Mee6ng took part in the Loving Earth Project exhibi6on and workshop in March and April. Loving Earth is an interna6onal community tex6le art project, ini6ated by Quakers in Britain, which enables people to engage crea6vely with the challenges of the climate crisis. Ficy of the

panels went on display in Belfast, Portadown and Londonderry, and Friends were on duty for the dura6on of the exhibi6on to encourage visitors to engage with the topic and think more about sustainability.

The three monthly mee6ngs reported to Quarterly Mee6ng that all their Annual du6es had been carried out.

Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng were responsible for organising the Ireland Yearly Mee6ng in 2022, which was held at Stranmillis University College, in August with the theme ‘ Hope, Renewal, Healing’ . This was the first 6me Irish Friends had been able to meet in person since 2019, and it was the first ‘blended’ Ireland Yearly Mee6ng. Technology enabled Friends to par6cipate via Zoom from all over the world, joining those signg in Belfast. Representa6ves from other churches also a]ended, and visitors were invited from other Yearly Mee6ngs in Britain and Europe. A rich 6me of worship, fellowship and business took place. The Public Lecture was given by Lynn Finnegan, a writer for the Interna6onal Ins6tute of Sustainable Development. The 6tle of her talk was Embodying the Quaker Tes<monies in Service of a Living Planet: The Challenge of Asking Beau<ful Ques<ons.

• Commi]ee reports :

• The Jessie Cairns Bequest is managed by Ulster Friends Trustees Ltd on behalf of Ulster QM, and the income is distributed in line with the wishes of the donor to Coleraine Prepara6ve Mee6ng, Lisburn Monthly Mee6ng and Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng. The income from the capital is to be used ‘ to sustain and extend the Chris<an witness of the Religious Society of Friends and to support Quaker charitable work within the bounds of Ulster Quarterly Mee<ng’. The broad remit of this fund enables the income to be used in many different ways, such as helping Fermanagh worship group with the cost of hiring a room for their worship, and giving dona6ons to Quaker Service for the Family Crisis programme, and to the Red Cross in response to the war in Ukraine.

• The Moyallon Centre remained quieter than usual, as Covid restric6ons meant groups were not allowed to visit. In spite of the difficult economic year, accounts showed the Centre in a stable financial posi6on. The administrator con6nued to work throughout the year, and as well as answering queries and a]ending to essen6al maintenance, she updated the website which was invaluable.

• Senior and Junior Moyallon residen6al Camps resumed this year acer the pandemic. The camps are not exclusively for young Quakers - all faiths are welcome, and campers are encouraged to bring a friend if they are worried about coming on their own.

• The Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng Educa6on Commi]ee gave grants to 25 children a]ending Friends’ School and local secondary schools in the Grange and Richhill area. Twenty three young Friends in third level educa6on also received grants. A gic of up to £6,000 was approved for Friends’ School Lisburn towards providing a counselling service.

• The James and Elizabeth Muriel Young Old People’s Home Trust (JEMY fund) supports the comfort and wellbeing of members of the Religious Society of Friends, within Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng, aged 60 or over. Assistance is not means tested, and grants of £400 towards winter fuel payments were made to 171 households. Eight other grants were given to Friends over 60, and one grant was also given to a Friends Mee6ng House to improve the comfort of older Friends.

• The Archives Commi]ee received a small number of enquiries via email over the year from members of the public. Most of these were dealt with by referral to the online Dublin and Lisburn archives on the Find My Past website.

Looking forward

We look forward to God’s con6nued blessing on our Mee6ngs in 2023 and we hope to see growth in Chris6an understanding and spiritual experience in all our Mee6ngs.

Public Benefit

The trustees of Ulster Quarterly Mee6ng are pleased to confirm that they have complied with their duty to have regard to the public benefit requirement statutory guidance of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.

Our public benefit has been demonstrated in a number of ways over the past year:

• We ensured that our Mee6ngs hold regular Mee6ngs for Worship and these Mee6ngs are open to members of the public as well as our own members and regular a]enders – these Mee6ngs provide spiritual nourishment and deepen the Chris6an experience and understanding of those who a]end;

• Improvement in the circumstances of individuals and groups whom we support through prac6cal ac6on with chari6es such as Quaker Service which works mainly with isolated and vulnerable prisoners. The Family Programme which was based at Quaker Co]age, closed at the end of 2022, bringing an end to forty years of work with mothers and children;

• Greater public awareness and understanding of a Quaker approach to peacebuilding, sustainability, social ac6on, educa6on, spiritual growth and other concerns that we support financially and prac6cally;

• Apprecia6on of the legacy of Quaker historical buildings and records in Northern Ireland.

Financial Review

Our financial statement for the period 31[st] January 2022 to 31[st] January 2023 is a]ached to this report and shows that we had income of £81,761.20 and expenditure of £175,265.79 (largely due to £101,705.57 invested in Property Fund). This resulted in a deficit of £93,504.59 with the balance of funds falling from £245,245.12 on 31st January 2022 to £151,740.53 on 31st January 2023.

Declara>on

This report was approved at the Annual General Mee6ng on 16th September 2023 and is signed on behalf of trustees.

Pleasaunce M Perry Clerk of Trustees