The Religious Society of Friends in Ireland Lurgam Monthly Meeting Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 3111212023 Introduction This report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northem Ireland) 2015 and in line with the guidance prodUd by the Charity Commission for Nothem Ireland. Constitution and Governance The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) In Ireland, Lurgan Monthly Meeting is th govemed by its governing document which was agreed by the Meeting on 10 June 2020. The Meeting was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission for th Northern Ireland on 15 February 2021. The Trustees, of whom there should be not less than two, are appointed at the Annual General Meeting. 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 Dember 2023 were as follows: Lesley Burney Anne E Gamble Jane E Lutton J Arnold Lutton The Trustees are responsible for the policies, activities and assets of the charity. No Trustee received any remuneration for ServIS as a member of the Board of Trustees and the charty has no employees. The Meeting has put in place a dats protection policy. based on guidelines from I reland Yearly Meeting, which is reviewed regularly. Purposes of the charity Lurgan Monthly Meeting is a Meeting for Worship of the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland that practises in accordan with the principles of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. The purpose of our charity, as set out in our goveming 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". Strengthening the Christian understsnding and religious development in the geographical area of responsibilty of the Monthly Meeting;
ii. Contributing financially and practically to the relief of suffering at home and abroad. iii. Providing for the pastoral care of individual Members and Attenders of Preparative Meetings, including assistan to those in need. st At 31 Dernber 2023 we had a total of 132 members as well as 12 regular attenders Our activities during 2023 The three Preparative Meetings of Lurgan Monthly Meeting have carried out the duties as they are set out in Chapter 4 of Organisation and Christian Discipline during 2023 and the Child Safeguarding reports have been sent to the Clerk of Ireland Yearly Meeting Education Committee. We are pleased to report that all three Meetings have increased in size, albeit by a small amount, over the course of the year. Our Preparative Meetings, Bessbrook and Lurgan, continue to meet weekly and Moyallon opens its doors on each of the first, and third Sundays with the addition now of the fffth Sundays which are well attended. More than 40 Ffriends meet over the three Meeting Houses each month. All three Meetings have had to contend with ill health amongst its Ffriends during the past year but the strength ofthe communty has helped keep everyone afloat. We are small but spiritually strong and have a good relationship within all three Meetings. A number of Ffriends came together for a Christmas lunch in a local restaurant, organised by Lesley Bumey. This is proving an enjoyable annual event. Another joint venture is, of course, our annual open Ministry & Oversight session where, in 2023, we heard Ann Loney talk on our Quaker inheritance. Our numbers for Monthly Meetings have been quite sparse and we are still looking at how we can encourage more Friends to attend, especially in the winter months, as many are not keen to drive at night. In 2022 we tried afternoon mtingS which
didn't get a good response so in 2023 we tried Zoom in the evenings but, again, this did not seem to work well. We will look at this again at ourApril 2024 Monthly Meeting and, hopefully, be able to bring a positive update in next year's report. Lurgan Monthly Meeting welcomes 38 adult Ffriends and one child in total to their Meetings. Looking fOard We look forward to God's continued blessing on our Meetings in 2024 and we hope to see growth in Christian understsnding and spiritual experien in all our Meetings. Public benefit The trustees of Lurgan Monthly Meeting are pleased to confinn 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 Meetings hold regular Meetings for Worship and these Meetings are open to members of the public as well as our own members and regular attenders - these Meetings provide spiritual nourishment and deepen the Christian experien and understanding of those who attend; Using legacy and bequest funds that have been left to the Meetings, we provide financial support to those in need within our Meetings and for other charitable causes" Financial review Our financial statement for the period 1 January to 31 Dember 2023 is attached to this report and shows that we had a small surplus of income over expenditure of st £420.10 for the year. As a result, our total current funds at 31 December 2023 51 increased to £8816.36 compared with £8396.76 at 31 Dernber 2022. Declaration This report was approved at the Annual General Meeting on 11th September 2024 and is signed on behalf of trustees. J.Arnold Lutton Clerk of Trustees