CASTLE COMMUNITY TRUST COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Charfty Referente and Adminlstrative Details Registered charity name Castle Community Trust Charity registration number NIC108042 Company registration number N1629691 Principal office Castle Community Trust Yrcd Hall 30 St Aubyn Street Belfast BT15 3QF The trustees Miss K L Donaghy (Resigned 3 June 2024) Mr M Hamilton Miss E Mccalister Miss S Davidson Ms L Kaunhoven Mr J Laughlin MrFHoy Mrj Clarke Ms E Taggart Mr G Graham Independent examiner Simon Hopper F.C.A. Hopper & Co 6 Doagh Road Ballyclare BT39 9BG CASTLE COMMUNITY TRUST COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Structure Governance and Mana ement. Castle Community Trust board rneet once a month on the first Monday. A Formal meeting is conducted following proper process The Chairperson receives reports from the manager, the treasurer and any Correspondence The manager gives the board his report then leaves meeting Two support ongoing development the officers attend internal meetings with The manager and the staff. The manager holds monthly team meetings with the staff and directs operations Based on the strategic plane and operation plan. The Board has the overall lead on all policies but we have two specific leads from the board. Jim Clark the Castle Community Trust Chairperson has took on the role of lead safeguarding he has completed his designated officer training and is the Board Child Protection Officer. All child protection concerns that are made with the Trust will go through the board Child Protection OfficerJim Clark has 30 years, experience in childcare and is our safeguard designated officer on the board. Linda Kaunhoven 15 the treasurer with 40 years, experience in finance and policy. Linda completed the tssk of up-dating our safeguarding policy and is responsible for organising the up-dates and review dates of the policy. Stacey Clifford is the safeguard designated officer in our affordable Childcare and is the assistant manager with 7 years, experience and has a Level 5 in Childcare management. Colleen Crothers is the childcare and operations manager and 15 the overall designated officer for the organisation. All above are registered with the Belfast Trust. All board members, Staff and volunteers are Access Nl vetted and the childcare staff are checked every year by Early Years BH5￿ on annual inspection. Castle Community Trust delivers transformational initiatives to alleviate: Educational under achievement Social isolation within the elderly and those who are house bound Poverty and deprivation Unemployment and lack of skills development Housing and housing rights Youth intervention Support for veterans Public use of our centre Festivals and specific events CASTLE COMMUNITY TRUST COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Support for our 15 sub-groups Childcare Parent and toddlers and family support Rights and welfare rights advise Capacity building for individuals and groups Engage with all agencies that can benefit our community The charity continues to support the residents of north Belfast and provide positive opportunities for them. The organisation continues to consult with the community to identify needs and possible programmes and projects to alleviate them. We stay focused on continuous relationship building with residents and all agencies to best support all our targeted beneficiaries. The organisation continues to grow and will strive for sustainability through economic development through our social enterprises. Mariners After-school Childcare Currently our social enterprise Mariners affordable afterschool care is staffed by a loyal staff team consisting of a childcare manager and Deputy Manager, Supervisor and one additional staff and volunteers and has 24 children on the register. Castle community trust are very keen to 5UPPOrt Mariners ASC and understand that some hard times are ahead and are very proud of the staff and all their hard worker through Covid-19 and how they have managed to keep Mariners a float and still making enough monies to support Salaries etc. The Re-Brand Castle Community Trust (formally the HUBBI is a centrally based third sector organisation delivering a range of community focused services within the local community throughout in lower North Belfast. It was formed in 2008 with the support of EU PEACE 111 funding to encourage partnership working, foster positive community relations and develop community capacity. The vision of Castle Community Trust is as follows: "A confident community where people aspire to and achieve physical, social and economic regeneration" This will be achieved with the underlying values of social justice, equality, and inclusion- values which are the cornerstone values of community development. The rebrand is based on the growth and development of the HUBB. The name Castle Community Trust relate5 to Belfast City Council Castle ward in which the HUBB and surrounding community is Situated in. Central to our Strategic development is to build new and vibrant relationships with the public, private and CASTLE COMMUNITY TRUST COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 community sectors. We believe this will support our strategic plan, our objectives and therefore support the community of lower North Belfast. Build positive relationships and strategic partnerships locally with: . The Local community sector Voluntary organisations Youth organisations and providers Veterans, cadet and serving services Loyal orders Local marching bands . Sports clubs Faith based groups Local churches Local businesses small-medium-large Statutory bodies All communities in North Belfast Local schools All relevant Northern Ireland and Belfast development strategies Objertives and activities The Charity's objectives {"Objects"l are to promote the benefit of the inhabitants of North Belfast (the "area of benefiV'} without distinction of gender, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, or political, religious or other opinion by associating with voluntary and community organisation5, Statutory agencies, the private sector and inhabitants in a common cause to:_ al Advance community development by providing facilities and amenities for, and promoting co- operation and joint activities between, community, voluntary and sports organisations. b) Provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and other leisure time occupations with the objert of improving the conditions of life for those living in the area of benefit. cl Advance education and training for the public benefit by organising classes and other forms of tuition. CASTLE COMMUNITY TRUST COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE TrUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 d) Promote peace building, conflict transformation and capacity building for the public benefit and build and maintain social cohesion and trust within and between communities by ". l. Devising and delivering transformation and capacity building training programmes; 2. Raising awareness, mutual understanding and respect: 3. Promoting and supporting projetts and initiatives that help to achieve these aims. e} Promote and support social enterprise and other sustainable means of achieving economic growth and regeneration. Achievement and Performance Castle Community Trust General Castle Community Trust, although situated in the middle area of lower North Belfast considers welcome all residents and small distinct districts to avail of our services, projects and programmes we provide. The centre has an open door policy to all groups and organisations Within the community sector and beyond. Our goals are plain and simple and these can be identified within our Strategic Plan. but basically our goal is to support the community as per the needs and identified issues and concerns from the people. We have numerou5 groups and sub-groups, too many to mention, but they include, local band, Old Comrades group, The British Legion and women's etc We also engage with and are members of various statutory and community initiatives including: North Belfast Social Services, Playboard, Early Year5, NIHE, PSNI, Belfast City council, Belfast Bonfire initiative. The Castle Community Trust supports a wide range of local community groups. We have offered support to 30 groups over the last 2 years. We have also supported 10 groups to set up. We offer a capacity building programme that covers, governance best practice, roles and responsibility of board and officers, identifying resources and funding for community group5. We also offer 15 OCN courses, such as Community Development, Human Rights and Justice, and Shared Culture and History. Castle Community Trust through serving as an umbrella organisation sUPPOrts group5 to come together. This enables us to organise effertive networking opportunities, such as regular meetings around various issues affecting residents, such as housing and education, Poverty and deprivation, regeneration and education. CASTLE COMMUNITY TRUST COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 Castle Community Trust as an estsblished organisation, serves as a representative for the North Belfast area, to engage with the Department of Communities, Department of Justice, and Belfast City Council, to secure funding and resources to support a better quality of life for our residents. To deal with the long list we have developed a new operations team that can best tackle them. Overseen by the Operational Manager. This team is responsible for engaging and supporting the Community of North Belfast. This team includes, Community Development and Housing Officer, Community Engagement Capacity Building Officer, Admin and Finance officer, and the Family and Childcare Assistant Manager. This work is a direct result of Henry Smith funding and is in its infancy. The Flex Fund would support the 8rowth of this project. This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exernption. Independent Examiner Hopper & Co., have indicated their willingness to remain in office and a resolution for their re-election will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. th The trustee's annual report was approved on 5 November 2024 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by: Mrj Clarke Trustee