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The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
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Portadown Heritage Tours

  • Status

    Received: on time

  • Income

    £137.6K

  • Spending

    £129.2K

Charity no. 107955 Company no. 656920 Date registered. 17/05/2021

Public benefits

The direct benefits which flow from Purpose 1 include the improvement of knowledge and skills of communities. The direct benefits which flow from Purpose 2 include: members of the public acquiring a greater understanding of orange culture and history and the heritage and industrial legacy of Portadown; enhanced community awareness and involvement

in local heritage; the promotion of wider dialogue and understanding of the connections between history and identity; enhanced civic pride and fostering a sense of belonging. The benefits from Purpose 1 are demonstrated through the number of participants attending exhibitions, talks, walking tours, hall tours, educational programmes, workshops and through feedback received from internal evaluation and progress reports to statutory bodies, funding agencies and others. The benefits from Purpose 2 are demonstrated through the number of participants at exhibitions, talks, walking tours, hall tours, educational programmes, workshops and through feedback received from internal evaluation and progress reports to statutory bodies, funding agencies and others. We don’t believe that any harm will arise from any of the purposes. Beneficiaries are potentially any member of the general public interested in learning about Orange history, culture and traditions and the heritage and industrial legacy of Portadown and the surrounding area A private incidental benefit to trustees may arise from participation in training programmes.

What your organisation does

Portadown Heritage Tours is a community based cultural education and tourism project which is making the heritage and culture of Portadown more accessible and understood, both with the people living in the area and international visitors. We have run and are running projects which make us more resilient and ready to promote new opportunities and

encourage local communities to be more engaged in the preservation and promotion of past history. Our organisation runs walking tours of Portadown highlighting its past history and engaging interest in industrial, military, Orange Heritage and the nationalist input into the town growth since 1610. We also conduct tours of Carleton Street Orange Hall and Heritage Centre. The hall is a very iconic building built in 1873 to a design which mirrors the Blacker family home, unfortunately the Blacker home is no longer in being as it was demolished in 1954. We run seasonal tours for example on October/ November we run Ghost Tours of the town. These have proved very popular with everybody. Exhibitions are run in the hall and also in the Millennium Court exhibition and arts centre in Portadown. We are currently developing a new tour of both 1st and 2nd World War battlefields in France and Belgium. We also invest heavily in the digital medium with website, Facebook and Instagram. Visitors can go on a self-guided tour of the hall through a Portadown Heritage Tour app. These mediums will be further developed with the aid of grant money in the next 2 years. Other tours are also being developed.

The charity’s classifications

  • The advancement of citizenship or community development
  • The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
  • Other charitable purposes

Who the charity helps

  • Adult training
  • General public
  • Interface communities
  • Men
  • Older people
  • Women
  • Youth (14-25 year olds)

How the charity works

  • Cross-border/cross-community
  • Cultural
  • Education/training
  • Heritage/historical
  • Youth development

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 30 March 2024

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charity accounts & reports for financial year end 30 March 2023

Independent examiners report Charity accounts Trustee annual report

Charitable purposes

The charity's objects ('Objects') are specifically restricted to the following: To promote, further or support any purpose for the benefit of the community in the Portadown and surrounding area (the “area of benefit”) which are , or hereafter may be deemed under the law of Northern Ireland to be charitable, and in particular: (a) To advance the education of the public concerning Orange history, culture and traditions and the heritage and industrial legacy of Portadown and the surrounding area with a view to securing appreciation of said heritage and traditions by means of exhibits, research, study, community outreach or other such means charitable in law for the benefit of men and women and the general public: (b) To foster a sense of community by: (i) facilitating organisations, interest groups and individuals to participate in discovering and preserving knowledge, encouraging and celebrating a sense of place, civic pride and ownership and an appreciation of all aspects of orange culture and heritage; (ii) supporting strong inter-community relationships; (iii) fostering social and economic regeneration in the local area along the heritage tour.

Governing document

Memorandum and Articles

Other name


  • 4 Trustees
  • 2 Employees
  • 12 Volunteers

Contact details

Public address

  • Bill Partridge, 6A Carleton Street, Portadown, Craigavon, 6A, Carleton Street, BT62 3EN

Trustee board

Trustee
Mr Bill Partridge
Mr William Mcclean
Mr George Laverty
Mrs Shirley Branyan

List of regions

  • In Northern Ireland
  • Armagh City, Banbridge And Craigavon Council
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