The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.
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 charity's [governing document], 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 (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019).
The Board expresses deep gratitude to its 90 staff and 100 volunteers for their hard work and efficiency in the day to day administration of the Mission’s programmes and services.
East Belfast Mission’s current Strategic Plan articulated our main aim, which is ‘to provide, hope, love and leadership in East Belfast. The delivery of this strategic aim, includes the following core priorities.
Christian Community
To respond to the spiritual and pastoral needs of the congregation and wider community.
Welcoming Facility
To provide a welcoming and safe space where people can find appropriate information and social support.
Neighbourhood Services
To ensure that individuals in the community have access to appropriate services and training to respond to their needs.
Homelessness Services
To ensure that people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness have an effective response to their needs.
Employability Services
To support people in their progression in gaining and sustaining appropriate employment.
Community Initiatives
To promote the development of the whole community.
The purpose of East Belfast Mission is the advancement of the Christian Faith as understood by the Methodist Church in Ireland and for the promotion for the public benefit and social good of East Belfast, being an area of social and economic deprivation. The objectives of East Belfast Mission will have the following public benefits:
(i) the relief of poverty in such ways as may be thought fit;
(ii) the relief of unemployment in such ways as may be thought fit including assistance to find employment;
(iii) the advancement of education, training or retraining, particularly among unemployed people, and providing unemployed people with work experience;
(iv) the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill health, disability financial hardship or other disadvantage.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
The purpose of East Belfast Mission is the advancement of the Christian Faith as understood by the Methodist Church in Ireland and for the promotion for the public benefit and social good of East Belfast, being an area of social and economic deprivation. The objectives of East Belfast Mission will have the following public benefits:
(i) the relief of poverty in such ways as may be thought fit;
(ii) the relief of unemployment in such ways as may be thought fit including assistance to find employment;
(iii) the advancement of education, training or retraining, particularly among unemployed people, and
providing unemployed people with work experience;
(iv) the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill health, disability financial hardship or other
disadvantage.
The board wish to take this opportunity to review EBM’s performance over the past year and report on the work of the organisation, which continues to seek to work with everyone in the East Belfast Community.
In 2024 East Belfast Mission successfully pursued the third year of its current Strategic Plan to ‘provide love and leadership in East Belfast. We achieved significant milestones in 2024 against our Strategic Plan and these are set-out below under each project.
The Mission looks to the future with optimism and positivity, greatly encouraged by achievements in 2024. The board wishes to both provide recognition and sincere thanks to the team, staff and volunteers, who work tirelessly to help and support those using the Mission’s services. Without them it would be impossible for us to do what we do, and we are indebted to their generosity and kindness.
c. Church and Community Outreach
The human context for our priorities this year remains the grave impact of poverty on East Belfast’s increasingly diverse community. Many factors cause individuals and families to be in poverty and poverty leads to many negative outcomes for people, this year we have particularly noticed the increased impact on the community’s mental health. One startling statistic reveals that 1 in 2 children in East Belfast live in poverty. We see our role in two ways, to:
Do what we can, along with others, to help with the supplying the essential needs,
Advocate on our community’s behalf to the those who hold the power to change the levels of poverty. Our Superintendent chairs the coalition of Christian Voices against Poverty, joining the advocacy campaigns.
Linked to the above, academic under achievement remains stubborningly high. Our Aspire programme works to encourage engagement in education, while also providing an environment for destressing.
Within this overarching context, we seek to deliver on our 5 key objectives
1.TO SUPPORT THOSE IN POVERTY- through the provision of a community fridge
The Community Fridge is now well established in providing food. Open three times each week, this project is providing free food for up to 120 families a week. We are very grateful to The Joseph Rank Trust for the financial support to purchase a van for food collection, this was a real “game changer”. Also, this work has saved 12,000 metric tonnes of food waste. We work closely with local supermarkets and with the other “free Food” providers in East Belfast. We have formed supportive links with The Kings Food Foundation and the network of Community Fridges
We also believe in the support giving by eating together in community meals and therefore provided several opportunities for the people of East Belfast to come together to eat together. We have also used food to integrate new settlers in the East Belfast, by them providing their food for us to enjoy.
On Christmas Day 2024, 40 people who otherwise would have been on their own, had Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. We also provided “Christmas in a Box” a full Christmas dinner for those unable to join us at church. The Neighbours in Need Christmas Hamper programme delivered over 1,000 Christmas food hampers to those living in poverty.
We are also grateful to the Atkinson Fund who have granted us monies to assist those aged over 50 to transition away from poverty.
2. TO PROMOTE CONNECTION AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT- whether that is people meeting in person or remotely
Social Isolation, particularly when finances are stretched, is a problem we sought to address. Through food we brought together pensioners for lunch and a fun style meeting. An increasing number of our senior citizens also joined the fun at Mums and Tots, enjoyed time together at the Ladies group, and a Men’s Breakfast.
In 2024 EBM was deeply involved in welcoming those from ‘newcomer communities’ to East Belfast.
3. TO PROVIDE A YOUTH PROGRAMME - and continue to support families with young children
ASPIRE - This group, funded by BBC Children in Need and the Henry Smyth Foundation is, at its core, a service to tackle educational underachievement. Around 60 children and young people from the age of 9-14 received assistance with their homework. Many of the young people participating are on neurodiversity spectrums with the associated behavioural challenges. Trained staff engaged the children with fun projects that built the children’s personal aspiration and coping mechanisms. Aspire offers much more than just homework support including; trips to international football games, artwork, fishing trips etc. We also provided summer diversionary programmes for young people.
4. TO PROVIDE A FREE CONSELLING SERVICE - to include a children’s service
Care Counselling provides much need professional talking therapies. We now have a fully qualified staff member and 3 volunteers, which enabled us to provide Counselling to 50 people in 2024. This has been a challenging year for delivery as the number of volunteers reduced. The demand for the service continues to be high. Our unique contributions to Counselling services are:
It is a free service
We believe the client deserves to receive the necessary number of sessions, no matter how many, to bring them to a place of good mental health
The provision of a children’s service was and remains an aspiration.
There remains a significant funding gap on the project, despite significant fund raising efforts and work must continue to find a sustainable funding model for Care Counselling.
5. CHURCH AND EXPLORING FAITH
The EBM congregation comes from a wide range of diverse backgrounds. Some who have joined have connected with the church through having first used other EBM services. We continued with Life Groups in 2024, who share life together in social and spiritual gatherings. Contemplative Prayer continued Monday nights through this period. A new venture, the Men’s Breakfast was commenced in 2024.
EBM is part of the new Belfast East Methodist Circuit, consisting of 9 Methodist churches. This has allowed the EBM congregation to be part of Circuit Bible studies, Sunday Evening Circuit Praise Nights, a Circuit Book Club, and other encouraging gatherings.
EBM also connected with other local Church congregations in 2024 to celebrate the major annual Christian festivals. This included joint worship services at Easter and Christmas. Our church building is used by two new Christian fellowships, one from Slovakia, the other from Romania
We continued to use The Alpha Course, giving the wider community the opportunity to explore Christianity. We are grateful to the TB&KL Thompson Trust for their support with this. A follow-up course has grown into a lively discipleship group.
In 2024 we also commenced exploration of becoming recognised as an Eco-Friendly Church.
6. TO SECURE RESOURCES TO FUND THE ABOVE - and strengthen the link between the staff of community projects and the church leadership.
Looking forward to the next reporting period, the funding for Aspire comes to an end in 2025r, securing further funding for both Aspire and Care counselling is a priority. The funding environment is becoming increasingly challenging for two main reasons
An increasing number of funders applying Annual Turnover ‘caps’ which exclude EBM from applying.
The use of “Funding agents”, including by government, who exclude Faith based charities from applying.
EBM’s small fundraising team worked diligently in 2024 to seek alternative funding options and approaches.
We would like to acknowledge the support of PwC, who significantly supported our work through the pro-bono provision of programmes such as living on a budget, staff volunteering to deliver Meals on Wheels programme, and supporting volunteer help in other projects.
The recruitment and development of new staff continued into the first two quarters of 2024. This process underlined the damaging consequences of "cliff-edge" funding decisions, as valuable skills, knowledge, and networks were lost when staff sought more secure employment.
Despite these challenges, the newly appointed management successfully built and trained a capable team that began to meet and exceed project outcomes.
Momentum and Impact
By autumn 2024, tangible success began to emerge. The average number of new clients per month rose from 35 to 60—a clear indication that outreach strategies, particularly a successful social media campaign, were working. This increase also validated staff efforts in targeting the right communities and promoting the project effectively.
As client numbers grew, so too did the rates of qualifications and job outcomes, thanks to the consistent and focused support from the team.
Understanding Economic Inactivity
Working in the demographic of Economic Inactivity has been an educational journey for our staff. Many clients present with multiple complex barriers to employment. Insights from the project’s Person-Centred Assessments reveal that while clients often receive stable financial support through the benefits system, they also struggle with issues such as limited education, inadequate social support, and mental health challenges.
In East Belfast in particular, the complexity lies in the layered nature of these barriers rather than any single defining issue. Encouragingly, clients from East Belfast and Ards & North Down frequently report strong family ties and supportive social networks, an asset in their journey toward employment.
Looking Ahead to the next Reporting Period
While we are optimistic about continued progress, this has been dampened by the UK Government’s decision to increase Employer’s National Insurance contributions. Unfortunately, this increased cost of employment has not been matched by additional funding from the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Combined with a 40% cut in overall project funding, the employability team will face renewed financial pressure going forward.
There is a real risk of redundancies in the team at the end of quarter one of 2025, creating further instability for a team that has recently regained momentum after the change from European Structural Funding to the UK Shared Prosperity Funding. To secure the future of the employability programme and move away from the job vulnerability that became starkly apparent in the post-Brexit funding landscape, it is essential that government deliver on the ‘Fair Funding Principals’ recently agreed between the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Community & Voluntary Sector.
Hosford
Hosford is the homelessness service of East Belfast Mission, providing accommodation and support to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The aim of the project is to support people to break out of homelessness and to prevent people becoming homeless through support in their own homes.
Hosford hostel provides accommodation for 26 people (single men and women aged 18 years plus) and have a stepping stone approach of single rooms and apartments which helps people to rebuild their lives and work towards living independently. We offer 24/7 support and each resident has their own Support Worker, who provides housing related support to help them to find and maintain their own home. Residents also have the opportunity to engage with all the other services Hosford and East Belfast Mission provide as well as help to link with any relevant services in the area.
Hosford Tenancy Support Workers provide practical and emotional support to people who are living independently but encountering problems that could result in them losing their home. The Support Workers aim to enable people to live independently through developing their skills and their ability to deal with problems. The service is about preventing homelessness by intervening in its causes.
Hosford’s Community Projects include the Garden Group, Refugee/Women Asylum Seekers Group, and the Health and Welling Project. These project gives those involved opportunities to learn new skills, make progress in their lives, meet friends, and to be part of a community.
Hosford Community Homes (HCH) is a social enterprise project providing homes in the community for people who are homeless. This is a unique and innovative project, contributing to tackling homelessness and delivering Community Wealth Building in East Belfast. HCH currently provides 22 homes in the community.
Hosford Community Homes Achievements during 2024:
Apartment 102, Skainos Centre (House in Multiple Occupancy). Delivered 6 units of accommodation at 98% occupancy.
Commonweal Housing: 5 houses have been fully occupied. The project is working well at every level; financial, tenant experience, and operationally. The project is being evaluated by QUB, and we hope to evidence a viable model for tackling housing exclusion. We supported two other organisations to follow our model and access Commonweal Investment in 2024.
240 Newtownards Road; comprising 6 apartments and a community centre, the project was built (refurbishment of former offices) in 2024 and opened in February 2025. We successfully negotiated access to Housing Benefit as a rental income, significantly increasing the rental income. Three people have moved in at the time of writing this Report and their feedback is very positive. There was a ‘Sod Cutting’ event in early 2024 and there will be a formal launch in May 2025.
HCH Ltd was established as a subsidiary charity of East Belfast Mission to facilitate the Financial Transaction Capital project agreement. This should facilitate the acquisition of 18 further homes with delivery commencing in 2025.
181 is a partnership project with Christian Fellowship Church which successfully registered as a House in Multiple Occupancy. There are now 5 people staying there who are destitute asylum seekers with no access to mainstream hostels or housing options. This is a unique project in Northern Ireland.
Funding was accessed from Urban Villages and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners to develop the capacity of Hosford Community Homes.
We shared the HCH model at two conferences and supported 10 organisations individually to undertake or explore similar Community Led Housing projects.
Restore Charity Shops
East Belfast Mission operates seven retail shop units in Belfast, Antrim, and Larne under the brand name “Restore”. Five of the seven stores sell pre-owned furniture and homeware. The remaining two shops sell clothes. This choice of goods supports the core work of East Belfast Mission as it supports those living in poverty.
The stores are businesses, and they generate unrestricted surplus income for the Mission, which is crucial to East Belfast Mission being able to meet a rising demand from families in the community needing assistance with food and energy costs.
We will be actively seeking a new unit in Bangor in the next reporting period.
During 2024 Restore extended its supply chain for retail stock through renewing, maintaining and expanding existing partnerships with several Local Councils, including a new collaboration with Mid Ulster District Council to source bicycles. We also renewed contacts with Antrim & Newtownabbey Council. These collaborations not only increase stock for Restore but contributed significantly to the reduction of material going to landfill through increasing the recycling of furniture and other reusable goods.
Our Restore shops also continue to assist people who are unemployed or economically inactive to enter, or return to, employment. Restore ensures this through offering job placements and volunteering positions in our retail outlets, providing a critical element in people’s journey back to work.
In this reporting period Restore has engaged very successfully with Homeless Connect on a partnership, supported by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, to deliver ‘Home Packages’ to new tenants taking possession of their new accommodation. These packages, worth £500 per tenant, include furniture and electrical goods.
Restore’s underlying business model remained strong in 2024, with the business performing above budget in a retail environment that continues to be challenging.
Café Refresh
In 2025 Refresh continued to grow the retail trade in our Café, with many new customers reporting that they heard about the great food in Refresh Café through ‘word of mouth’. During this financial reporting period we also achieved a year-on-year business increase in catering for events in the Skainos centre.
The year to December 2024 also saw further growth in customer numbers for our Meals on Wheels service. EBM owes a vote of thanks to PwC, whose staff using their ‘Volunteer Days’ helped to deliver the Meals on 3 days each week. This volunteering greatly assisted the Mission in keeping the price of these home delivered meals to a minimum, which is crucial for many of the customers, who are struggling with present food prices. EBM is opening conversations with Glentoran football club, who are also keen to support this service in the next financial year.
In 2024 we launched a range of ‘oven ready’ chilled meals, focusing on some of our most popular menu items in the Café. This product line has made a promising start.
In quarter 4 of 2024, working in partnership with EBM’s employability service, Refresh began the delivery of Hospitality Training programs, including Barista, Kitchen Porter and Food Safety training. In the next financial year, it is hoped that Refresh will grow its income through developing and scaling-up this training provision.
In 2024 Refresh kept its 5 star Scores on the Doors rating from Belfast City Council throughout the year.
Turas
“Turas” meaning journey or pilgrimage in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic, is an Irish language project designed to connect people from all communities with the Irish language and works to promote understanding and acceptance of the shared languages and heritages of Ulster. Turas continues to allay fears around the language and to be a healing influence.
Turas is the only Irish language project which exists within a PUL community. The work that has been carried out over the last 10 years has seen a softening of attitudes and a growth in the level of interest within unionist communities. A study carried our by Dr David Mitchell (Trinity College Dublin) on the Turas Project, found language classes help groups in conflict find shared heritage.
‘Language learning has the potential to build empathy between groups in conflict and help revise destructive understandings of history, according to researchers in Trinity College Dublin, who have conducted a study of the Turas’ Irish-language centre in East Belfast. Language-learning projects can help revise destructive understandings of history’ - Trinity News and Events (tcd.ie)
Classes
Turas offers both in-person and online Irish classes as well as some live streamed classes. In 2024 we registered over 700 people for classes, a rise from 500 in 2023. We provide weekly outreach classes in Cairnshill Methodist and Dundonald High School.
Turas supports 5 university students with bursaries that cover part of the annual course fee. Five people are undertaking degrees in Irish at both QUB and U.U.
New mentor groups have also been set up and they meet together regularly to support learners. There are over 60 mentees supported by more experienced learners in Turas. This scheme fosters fantastic comradery between the learners and greatly develops both langage and teaching skills
Naíscoil na Seolta became Scoil na Seolta
Turas is the parent organisation of the Integrated Irish-medium pre-school in east Belfast Naiscoil na Seolta (Nursery School of the Sails).
In 2024:
The number of children attending rose for 18 to 21.
Change the Scoil’s legal entity to Scoil na Seolta Ltd, a company limited by guarantee, in preparation for becoming a Bunscoil (Primary School) in September 2025, when at least 7 of our pre-school children will comprise the first Rang a Haon (Primary One) class. Scoil na Seolta will be the 69 Integrated School in Northern Ireland the first Integrated School teaching through the medium of the Irish language.
Library
The Turas Library (leabharlann) provides study space for individuals and groups, access to books and other resources, as well as support and advice. The staff of the library have organised various talks as well as music and cultural events for learners and visitors.
Schools
We teach weekly Irish classes to all pupils in Braniel Primary School.
The Con O’Neill Storytelling project visited 6 schools.
Merchandise
We sell in-house, online, at local markets and at our events and bus tours. We recently received funding to commission and produce new products which will be ready for the Christmas market.
Turas Tourism Project
Our Bus Tours of East Belfast, Gaelic East, The Story of Conn O’Neil and East Belfast Murals continued to prove popular through 2024.
Gaeltacht Visits
Cairde Turas (Friends of Turas) financed a Gaeltacht weekend for Turas learners in Donegal and Turas took a group of learners to the Kerry Gaeltacht for a week’s language immersion.
Fundraising
Fundraising performed well in 2024 while navigating the financial difficulties continuing to be caused by funding cuts, an increased number of funders closing or tightening restrictions, the ongoing ‘cost of living crisis’ and increasing costs. Both the Fundraising and Sustainability Manager and Individual Giving Officer performed over and above their 3:1 income target resulting in increased income compared to 2023. Notable successes include:
Individual Giving- the Annual Summer & Christmas Mail Appeals raised in excess of £12,000 in total between the two appeals in 2024
Community Fundraising- The Individual Giving Officer established a number of successful fundraising events during a difficult year for community income generation:
o Mournes Challenge for Hosford which raised over £8,000 for Hosford Homelessness Services
o Strictly Come Dancing for Community Groups- 10 couples, over 300 attendees at the final show,
raised over £14,000
o New “Christmas in a Box” fundraising campaign
Legacy Fundraising- the Fundraising Manager continued to engage with ‘Will to Give’ to pursue legacy fundraising opportunities. In the upcoming 2025 year a new legacy pack will be developed to be better utilised on our new website.
Businesses- Connections with local businesses have been successfully pursued by the Fundraising Team notably including partnership with Gateley Legal and Hearth, Ballyhackamore.
Strategic approach- The fundraising team successfully worked with projects to create and complete income generation plans for 2024. The Fundraising and Sustainability Manager is continuing to work with the Mission’s Project Managers to move onto 3-year income generation budgets
Communications including Public Relations - the fundraising team, in particular the Individual Giving officer, continues to manage and provide operational communications support across EBM. Key campaigns have included: Community Dinners, Community Fridge, “We don't all shop the same”, Employability, Care Counselling, Hosford, Partnerships with Hearth, PwC, and schools, Neighbours in Need Christmas Campaign. This also included a new monthly email newsletter to supporters and an end of year impact report.
Chartered Institute of Fundraising in Northern Ireland Awards 2024 – The Individual Giving officer was awarded highly commended as the “Fundraiser to Watch under 30”.
The Fundraising Team look forward to further increasing the EBM’s income generation in the next financial reporting period.
The Mission did consume some of its unrestricted financial reserves during this reporting period. Financial controls, strengthened in 2023, provided Senior Management and the Board of Trustees with detailed and timely financial information in 2024, allowing a detailed focus on finically planning and decision making during 2024. EBM moves into 2025 with a clear focus financial plan for growing its unrestricted reserves in the next reporting period.
After making appropriate enquiries, the directors 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.
Unrestricted Reserves
Unrestricted reserves (“free reserves”) are those reserves which the East Belfast Mission can expend at the discretion of the directors to promote the objects of the charity. The directors do not believe that the company needs excessive amounts of unrestricted reserves.
East Belfast Mission is partially a budget financing organisation. At present expenditure and income are directly related – when the organisation contracts with a service provider to provide a service this contract is contingent on full funding, including a 12% contribution for Overhead Costs, for the service being secured.
However the company needs to maintain a level of unrestricted reserves in order to:
Ensure that it continues to operate on a going concern basis and remains viable to be able to adapt its activities from time to time to cope with changing circumstances, which cannot always be reliably foreseen and anticipated;
Protect against a decline or interruption of current sources of income – discretionary grants, for example may cease unexpectedly, or be reduced, and new sources of revenue have to be found; and
Provide for working capital or regular fluctuations in income and expenditure. Given the nature of the company’s multiple funding streams, incomings and outgoings do not always coincide exactly resulting in peaks and troughs which need to be provided for to ensure continuity of service provision.
Given the above the directors have established a policy which is reviewed annually, whereby the unrestricted funds held by the charity should be a target of at least three months of average expenditure.
Unrestricted Designated Reserves
Unrestricted designated reserves comprise unrestricted funds designated for a particular purpose by the directors. These are typically reserves relating to individual projects which remain designated to the individual programmes of activity.
Restricted Reserves
Restricted reserves are those reserves which either have specific conditions attached to them as to how they are spent. It is anticipated that this amount will be utilised during the coming year.
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 Finance, Audit and Risk Committee will ensure a regular review of risks takes place.
The principal risks facing East Belfast Mission relate to safeguarding of its clients which the company manages through the deployment of appropriately qualified and trained staff and of appropriate standards. The main uncertainty facing the organisation relates to the funding environment in which the company operates. At the time of writing this report the only material threat on the horizon is the end of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UK SPF). This was introduced by the UK Government to replace European Structural Funds, with two funding contracts being issued for the period April 2023 to March 2025. The Mission’s Employability Service is fully funded by the UK SPF, as part of a five partner consortium providing an employability service across the city of Belfast. The Mission along with its consortium partners is actively engaging Elected Representatives and public officials in Belfast and London to secure replacement funding from 1st April 2025. Should this be unsuccessful, there will be a ‘cliff edge’ drop in employability services within the city’s most socially deprived neighbourhoods. Seventeen job positions in the Mission would also face redundancy.
During the next period EBM will continue into year 3 of its Strategic Plan to ‘Share Love and Leadership in East Belfast’. Core to delivering this will be:
Innovative developments in our programmes, such as the further development of Hosford Community Homes allowing us to continue to re-home people in the context of a chronic shortage of public housing
Playing a leading role within the Community Sector in Northern Ireland to achieve replacement funding, or a continuation of funding, for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Launching and developing our Social Supermarket based in our Headquarters at the Skainos Centre, on Belfast’s Newtownards Road
Securing our Care Counselling Service through securing on-going funding
Continuing to provide practical support, such as fundraising support, to smaller community organisations in East Belfast
Providing ‘thought leadership’ through Public Affairs engagement
EBM will seek in the next reporting period to increase efficiency and mitigate risk via:
Seeking to grow its financial reserves with a target of ‘six months operating expenses
A thorough review and documenting of its internal operating procedures.
The East Belfast Mission (“EBM”) was brought into existence by the Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland under the Methodist Church in Ireland Act 1928. In 2008 the Mission was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee.
EBM 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. The Mission has been granted charitable status by HMRC and accordingly is exempt from income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax. Its charity reference number is XN68566 and its company reference is NI069097. EBM has successfully completed the registration process with the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland and its Northern Ireland Charity Commission number is NIC100744.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
In May 2014 the EBM board of directors approved a ‘Corporate Governance Framework’, which provides information on the arrangements, which have been established to ensure proper and effective management of EBM’s affairs. The framework made provision for and developed the ‘Terms of Reference’ of the following committees:
1. Finance, Audit and Risk
2. Governance
3. Appointments and Remuneration
During 2023 the Appointments and Remuneration Committee was given a wider Human Resource remit by the EBM Board and renamed the Human Resources Committee.
A structured induction process has been implemented for new board members and ongoing training has been provided to existing directors. All directors have received Governance training from the company solicitor and a Director Handbook and a Conflict of Interest Policy were implemented.
No funds are held as custodian on behalf of others.
The trustees, who are also the directors of East Belfast Mission for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the 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; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Miscampbell & Co be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.
The company gives full consideration to applications for employment from employees with disabilities where the candidate’s particular aptitudes and abilities are consistent with adequately meeting the requirements of the job. Opportunities are available to employees with disabilities for training, career development and promotion. Where existing employees become disabled, it is the company’s policy to provide continuing employment wherever practicable in the same or an alternative position and to provide appropriate training to achieve this aim.
The company operates a framework for employee information and consultation which complies with the requirements of the Information and Consultation of Employee Regulations 2004. During the year, the policy of providing information about the company has been continued through the communications framework. The CEO, Head of Finance & Corporate Services and the Project Managers meet on a monthly basis. ‘Buzz Briefings’ are compulsory for all staff three times each year. At these Senior Management brief staff on the direction and performance of the Mission and invite staff to raise ideas and issues which they believe, if addressed, would improve the impact of the Mission or the welfare of staff and volunteers.
The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of East Belfast Mission (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
the information given in the financial statements is inconsistent in any material respect with the trustees report; or
sufficient accounting records have not been kept; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
As explained more fully in the statement of trustees responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. However, the primary responsibility for the prevention and detection of fraud rests with both those charged with governance of the Charitable Company and management. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the Charitable Company and determined that the most significant are those that relate to the reporting framework (FRS 102 and the Companies Act 2006) and the relevant tax compliance regulation in the United Kingdom;
understood how the Charitable Company is complying with those frameworks by making enquiries of management to understand how the Charitable Company maintains and communicates its policies and procedures in these areas;
assessed the vulnerability of the Charitable Company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including how fraud might occur by considering the risk of management override and by assuming revenue recognition to be a fraud risk; and
based on this understanding our audit procedures were designed to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations.
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by;
Identification of related parties;
Making enquiries of management regarding where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud;
Considering the internal controls in place within the company to mitigate the risk of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations;
To address the risk of fraud, override of controls and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected related party relationships, tested journal entries to identity unusual transactions, investigated any significant or unusual transactions and assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were suggestive of potential bias.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
East Belfast Mission is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office is 239 Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT4 1AF.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the Charities SORP "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 (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Government grant income
Charitable income
Charitable income
Raising funds
Charitable expenditure
Charitable expenditure
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
Included in the brought forward depreciation charge for Church Developments is an impairment charge of £586,514 as a result of a revaluation in 2017.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
During the year the charity entered into the following transactions with related parties:
Skainos Limited is regarded as a related party by virtue of common directors on both boards. During the year Skainos contracted with the company for the provision of facilities management and also to provide catering services for room hire and conferences. Skainos has leased units to East Belfast Mission under leases in return for rental income and a contribution towards service charges.
East Belfast Mission Trading Limited ("EBMTL"), formerly East Belfast Mission Enterprises Limited, is a subsidiary of the company which is not consolidated into the results of East Belfast Mission.
The Methodist Church in Ireland is regarded as a related party by virtue of the controlling influence it can exert on the selection of members and directors of the company. The following is a summary of transactions entered into during the year:
Payment by the company of a central assessment of £Nil (2023: £Nil) to the Methodist Church in Ireland.
Payment of minister's remuneration and other benefits to the Methodist Church in Ireland who subsequently remit the payment to the Superintendent Minister/Chair of the Board, subject to deduction of payroll taxes.
The Central Assessment and Minister's Stipend and travel allowance in accordance with the formulae and policies devised by the Methodist Church in Ireland as a whole and consequently are deemed to be at arms-length.
The Methodist Church in Ireland loaned the company £120,000 in 2014/15, £70,000 in 2018/19 and a further £30,000 was loaned in 2019/20. These loans have been fully repaid.
The charity had no material debt during the year.