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The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
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Maghera Cross Community Link

  • Status

    Received: on time

  • Income

    £268.5K

  • Spending

    £226.1K

Charity no. 101215 Date registered. 27/11/2014

Public benefits

The public benefit flowing from purpose 1 is that the communities in Maghera will have a facility where they can come together and meet in a non-threatening neutral venue. They will be able to access a variety of courses and classes and plan a way forward to improve the image of their community. Another public benefit will be that children from

the Maghera community will have access to after school activities in the Centre. This means that there will be benefit to not just the children but to the parents of the children who will know that there is a safe stimulating and enjoyable after-school club which will be well supervised and open to families from both sides of the religious divide in Maghera. Another benefit will be that young people from all sections of the community in Maghera will be able to access age friendly activities such as music, dance, physical recreation and training in boxing. This will give young people a variety of activities not provided by any other organisation in the town. A further public benefit will be the food bank which will be put in place to provide the most needy families in the wider community of Maghera town and its hinterland. The benefits will be measured by the numbers of families registering to use the Centre, the numbers of young people becoming involved in the activities, the numbers of children attending the afterschools club and the numbers of needy families accessing help from the food bank. There will be no private benefit as all of the management committee will act on a voluntary capacity and there is no harm emanating from any of our activities.

What your organisation does

The organisation has been set up to try and create better cross community relations in the relatively divided community of Maghera. We provide a comfortable, safe central facility where individuals and families can feel free to meet, come together and socialise. There will be a range of activities and classes aimed particularly at young people

such as dance, music, physical exercise and boxing. Our group will also provide an after-schools club where children from both sides of the community will be looked after for 2 hours per day. We also provide a food bank to assist most deprived families in an area where 25% of the people are living in child poverty. We hope to provide courses and classes for parents of both an educational and recreational nature. The group is only in existence since January 2014 and our range of activities will expand as the group grows.

The charity’s classifications

  • The prevention or relief of poverty
  • The advancement of education
  • The advancement of citizenship or community development
  • The advancement of amateur sport
  • The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage

Who the charity helps

  • Children (5-13 year olds)
  • General public
  • Interface communities
  • Parents
  • Unemployed/low income
  • Youth (14-25 year olds)

How the charity works

  • Community development
  • Education/training
  • Playgroup/after schools
  • Relief of poverty
  • Sport/recreation
  • Youth development

This display is a broad summary of the charity’s financial information. For a full understanding of the charity’s finances, the reader should view the PDF accounts and reports under the Documents tab above.

Income

£268.5K

Spending

£226.1K

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 31 March 2024

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 31 March 2023

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 31 March 2022

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charitable purposes

The Group is established to better our community, provide activities for the young people, services for older people, encourage the community to come together and improve the image/reputation of our community, provide activities for children and young people to encourage to improve socially and educationally and bring the communities closer together. This will be done without distinction of age, sex, race, political, religious or other opinion, by associating with the statutory authorities, voluntary and community organisations and inhabitants in a common effort to advance education, preservation and protection of health and to provide facilities in interests of social welfare for recreation and other leisure time occupation with the object of improving the health, education, relief of poverty, reconciliation and community development for all the inhabitants of Maghera and surrounding district.

Governing document

Constitution

Other name

  • 8 Trustees
  • 5 Employees
  • 8 Volunteers

Contact details

Public address

  • Ruth Watterson, The Link Community Building, 49 St. Lurachs Road, Maghera, County Londonderry, BT46 5JE

Trustee board

Trustee
Mr Jon James Boyd
Mrs Ruth Watterson
Mrs Claire Sweeney
Paula Convery
Kirsty Mcfall
Jane Mullan
Mr Brain Davey
Mr Ross Nicholl

List of regions

  • Mid Ulster District Council