2025-12-31-annual-report

BELFAST CITY CENTRE CHAPLAINCY

Director / Trustees’ Report for the year ended 31st December 2025

The Board of director/trustees of Belfast City Centre Chaplaincy has pleasure in presenting their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2025.

The report is prepared in accordance with the Manual of Laws of the Methodist Church in Ireland and the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (Revised 2015).

The Board of director/trustees expresses deep gratitude to its Volunteer Chaplains for the generous giving of their time and for the heart-felt pastoral ministry they provide in Belfast City Centre.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the Charities Acts, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102)” (effective 1 January 2019).

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

a. Constitution

Belfast City Centre Chaplaincy (BCCC) was established as a pioneer mission project within Belfast Central Mission Ltd. on 1st July 2018, before incorporated as a Company in its own right on 22nd October 2019. Company number 665287.

The Chaplaincy has been granted charitable status the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland and its Northern Ireland Charity Commission number is NIC108033.

BCCC is also governed by the Constitution (Manual of Laws) of the Methodist Church in Ireland as set out under the Methodist Church in Ireland Act 1928.

b. Governance

Governance of BCCC is provided by a Board of Trustees which meets four times each year. The Lead Chaplain is responsible to the Board of Trustees for the ‘day to day’ running of the Chaplaincy.

During this reporting period the Chaplaincy updated the Membership provisions in its governing, providing a change in institutional Membership. Belfast Central Mission was removed as a Member and The Methodist Church in Ireland was added as a member. The revised Articles now provide for other Christian Churches on the island of Ireland, at denominational level, becoming Members. These changes have provided for better inter-denominational Membership, in-line with our inter-denominational volunteer base, while also reducing potential conflicts of interest between parties who have roles in both Belfast Central Mission and Belfast City Centre Chaplaincy Ltd.

c. Risk Management

The Board assesses the major risks to which the charity is exposed on an ongoing basis, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the company and is satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate our exposure to the major risks. The principal risks facing BCCC relate to the safeguarding of vulnerable people with whom our volunteer Chaplains interact. BCCC manages this risk through an initial training course and then ongoing training which all volunteers must complete and through the oversight of the Lead Chaplain who is a fully trained Minister of Religion. He is in turn assisted by two experienced Senior Chaplains. BCCC’s operating procedures require ant safeguarding issue to be reported to the Chairman of the Board immediately and a detailed written report then provided the BCCC Board.

d. Purpose and Public Benefits

The Object of the Charity is the advancement of the Christian Religion in Belfast and its surrounding areas by:

• Provision of pastoral support to all who work in the city.

• Outreach to the people of the city through evangelism, counselling, education and training.

• Engagement with issues of justice, reconciliation, fairness, equality and dignity as they affect the people of the city.

• Assisting local churches with their ministry in the city.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND ACTIVITIES

a. Financial Performance.

In 2025 substantial effort was applied to applied to putting in place a three year funding package, for the years 2026 to 2028, to allow the charity to step-up in scale of operation, initially through being able to fund the salary for a full-time Chief Executive Officer, with a proven track record of growing charities and their impact.

This was success and recruitment of the new Chief Executive, who commence employment in January 2026, was completed in this period.

An £11,000 grant received from Benefact in this reporting period has been placed in reserve, with the permission of this funder, to constitute part of the three funding package from 2026.

Diamond & Skillen Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditor Sinclair House, 89/101 Royal Avenue Belfast BT1 1FE

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b. Review of Activities

During 2025 operations continued in Belfast at a similar level to that of the previous reporting period. Five new Chaplains were recruited, trained and Commissioned. Chaplains were welcomed into the new Grand Central Station (rail and bus) by station management.

During 2025 we licensed City Chaplaincy Bangor (County Down) and provided oversight and advice to the 10 Bangor Churches involved, the training of their initial cohort of 9 Chaplains. The training of these Bangor Chaplains was completed in this reported period, with their Commissioning scheduled for February 2026.

VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT

A key objective is the ongoing growth of our Volunteer base. The charity has sited growing these volunteer base, and therefore the charity’s impact as a core deliverable in our funding applications for the next three years.

Scaling-up of volunteer numbers will be a prime requirement placed on the new Chief Executive Officer taking post in January 2026

FUTURE LOCATIONS

Plans for Future Locations

With Belfast and Bangor City Chaplaincies full active, the charity is now seeking interest form groups of churches in other Irish cities and towns, who appreciate the opportunity afforded by Town Centre Chaplains.

GOING CONCERN

After making appropriate enquiries, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the Accounting Policies.

BUSINESS ADDRESS

Grosvenor House 5 Glengall Street Belfast BT12 5AD

DIRECTORS

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

• Rev P Agnew

• Rev DA Campton

• Dr DRS Gallagher

• Mrs ED Jamison

• Rev D Patterson

STATEMENT OF DIRECTOR/TRUSTEES’S RESPONSIBILITIES AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The Directors/Trustees are responsible for their annual report and for the preparation of financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Organisation and of the net movement in funds of the Organisation for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Directors/Trustees are required to:-

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Organisation will continue in business

Diamond & Skillen Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditor Sinclair House, 89/101 Royal Avenue Belfast BT1 1FE

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The Directors/Trustees are responsible for ensuring that the Organisation keeps proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Organisation and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 (insofar as this legislation applies to the organisation). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Organisation and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities and to provide reasonable assurance that:

• The Organisation is operating efficiently and effectively;

• All assets are safeguarded against unauthorised use or disposition and are properly applied;

• Proper records are maintained and financial information used within the Organisation, or for publication, is reliable; and

• The Organisation complies with relevant laws and regulations.

STATEMENT AS DISCLOSURE TO OUR INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS

In so far as the directors/trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report:

• there is no relevant information, being information needed by the independent examiner in connection with preparing their report, of which the Organisation’s independent examiner is unaware; and

• the directors/trustees, having made enquiries of fellow directors/trustees and the Organisation’s independent examiner that they ought to have individually taken, have each taken all steps that he/she is obliged to take as a director/trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the independent examiner is aware of that information.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS

Diamond & Skillen were appointed as the organisation’s independent examiners during the year and have indicated their willingness to continue in office. The designated trustees will propose a motion reappointing the auditors at a meeting of the Trustee/Directors in accordance with Section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.

These financial statements and this report have been prepared in accordance with the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Ireland (FRS102) (effective from 1st January 2015) and in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime (insofar as these provisions apply to the organisation).

This report was approved by the board of director / trustees on 27th March 2026 and signed on its behalf by:

Rev Andrew Rea Irvine Company Secretary for and on behalf of the Board

Diamond & Skillen Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditor Sinclair House, 89/101 Royal Avenue Belfast BT1 1FE

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