## **St Ciaran’s Connected** 

## **Trustee Report for April 01 2023 – March 31 2024** 

Our main fundraisers this year included our Spinathon and Christmas Market. 

Our main grants this year were Halifax Foundation, Community Foundation for NI and Mid Ulster Council. 

A big project we completed this year was our biodiversity garden, partly funded through the National Lottery. 

The Income and Expenditure Report below shows St Ciaran’s Connected has reached the end of the financial year with a bank balance of £16,070. 

The Halifax Foundation funding enabled us to develop initiatives that improve the educational and recreational options accessible to residents of Ballygawley, Altamuskin, and the surrounding Clogher Valley region, significantly disadvantaged provided the isolated nature of our location. We purchased 2 interactive whiteboards specifically to enhance our wider community outreach and extra curricular initiatives. 

The interactive whiteboards were effective for expanding education, enhancing learning through technology, increasing accessibility considering our rural location, and building personal development opportunities and skills development for our beneficiaries. 

The main objective of this initiative was to give primarily children and young people in our community a vibrant learning environment through technological enhancements. 

The continued success of St Ciaran’s Connected is due to the commitment and drive of the committee.  One of the priorities of St Ciaran’s is to maintain and strengthen St Ciaran’s position as a school connected to its parents and wider community.  To promote greater community involvement, we have a ‘St Ciaran’s Connected’ group.  The idea behind the group is to ‘tap’ into the skills and expertise which our community has, to further benefit the education of the children at St Ciaran’s. The benefits of the group include developing effective relationships between staff, parents and others associated with the school by engaging in activities or providing facilities which support the school and advance the education of the pupils. 

Our accounts have been independently examined and filed with the Charity Commission NI. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all involved for their efforts in the past year and wish the committee every success in their fundraising going forward. 

Paul Lavery 

Trustee