Street Ministries Annual Report For the Period Ended 31/03/24
The Directors present their report and financial statements for the period ended
31/03/24
Charititable Status
The charity was registered with the Charity Commission for NI on 21 March 2022.
Principal activity
Street Ministries is a Christian ministry established to bring positive changes to people’s lives by tackling homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, unemployment and offering pastoral support to those that want it.
Trustees
The trustees who served during the period are as stated below:
Ivor Reid Justin McMinn Victoria McMinn Mehrshad Esfandiari
Structure, governance and management
Type of governing document: Constitution
Partners: Street Soccer NI, Outside In, St Martin’s Church, Salvation Army
Personnel;
F/T employees : None P/T staff: None Volunteers : 15
Objectives and Activities
Key Purposes of the Organisation:
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To tackle homelessness in Belfast and across NI
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To support people to access emergency accommodation such as hotels, hostels, etc
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To support people to access temporary accommodation such as hostels, including paying
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for move in fees
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To support people with costs of living etc to prevent people from becoming homeless
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To support people to enter rehab to overcome addiction
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To support people to enter employment or education
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To run street outreach in Belfast city centre offering support to street homeless etc
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• To run a weekly soup kitchen at our building where we can offer 1-1 support
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To offer weekly bible studies, pastoral support and support to access a church community
Main activities over the past year:
1: New Building : We moved into a new building on the Botanic area in City Centre in partnership with Street Soccer NI. It’s a 2 year lease and share the rooms with Street Soccer including access to a clothes and furniture shop. Now we have a building for running a soup kitchen, bible study and other activities. 2. New projects : We piloted a soup kitchen at our new building targeting Street Soccer clients and people we connected with through our street work. We started off small and only had around 10-15 sessions. We plan to open up to the wider community once we have enough volunteers in place.
3: Street Work ; We went out to the streets quite a few Friday nights setting up a table offering tea, coffee, snacks and clothing. We used the front of a Salvation Army church on Dublin Road as it is a prime location
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where street homeless and refugees walk past.
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4: Funding support for accessing hostels – We supported around 6 people to enter a homeless hostel and pay for their £40-50 deposit to enter. These people were referred from the NIHE mainly who couldn’t find any other organisation to assist with this. This will be an ongoing project as the need is huge and no other organisation seems to support with this.
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Funding Income : We received £1000 from Black Santa towards our soup kitchen and street outreach and activities supporting people in need. This was our only grant this year.
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Fundraising : We Received over £6,500 from bucket collections at Tesco Newtownbreda over two separate days. We also received a number of donations from churches and individuals. 5 people also signed up to give monthly through our Local Giving website.
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Marketing : We got our first pop up sign made to promote ourselves at events, fundraisers and also for our street outreach. We also made some leaflets showcasing our work and how people can partner with us. We also had the opportunity to speak at a church in Carryduff at a women’s group and it led to one of the ladies volunteering with us.
Achievements and performance:
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New board member - Mehrshayd Esfandiari.
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We built partnerships with Outside In, Salvation Army, St Martin’s Church, Street Soccer NI, Hosford Homeless Hostel
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Supported 6 people to access temporary accommodation (hostels)
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Supported one person to access money towards first month’s rent for private rental
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Piloted a soup kitchen at our building in Botanic Avenue and helped people to access clothes and food
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Held bible studies most weeks throughout the year and hosted Sunday night meetings once a month in
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partnership with St Martin’s church.
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Accessed clothes, hats, socks and gloves from Outside In to give our to those in need
Challenges and Risk
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Funding rent of the building from November 23-24
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Applying for grants to cover activities
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Recruiting more volunteers to help with soup kitchen and outreach
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Organising fundraisers to cover expenses that grants don’t cover
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Engaging with people with addictions or mental health issues that could cause a risk to volunteers or
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damage to building
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Starting up new projects and making them successful
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Governance risks such as polices.
Financial Review
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This is our first year of accounts and they were audited by an independent accountant
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The financial activity of the Charity this is healthy and we don’t have any debt
Declaration:
The board members declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s board: Signature: J McMinn Name: Justin McMinn Position: Chair Date: 2 November 2024
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