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 prodU￿d by the Charity Commission for Nothem Ireland.
Constitution and Governance
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) In Ireland, Lurgan Monthly Meeting is
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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
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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 De￿mber 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 ServI￿S 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.
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At 31 De￿rnber 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 m￿tingS 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 fO￿ard
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 De￿mber 2023 is attached
to this report and shows that we had a small surplus of income over expenditure of
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£420.10 for the year. As a result, our total current funds at 31 December 2023
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increased to £8816.36 compared with £8396.76 at 31 De￿rnber 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