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Status
Received: on time
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Income
£10.9K
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Spending
£8.8K
- Charity no. 109073
- Date registered. 19/01/2023
Public benefits
Our members are gaining knowledge and understanding of how to do their own family research for ancestors who came from our local area, Northern Ireland and further afield. They also learn about the social history context in which their ancestors lived, through our talks and visits. The family history research carried out by members following our
courses and talks, along with the outcomes from our DNA project, have resulted in many members discovering ancestral connections between their families, some of which have been of great surprise to them, and the fact that these discoveries are spread around amongst members of all backgrounds contributes to religious and racial harmony, equality and diversity, lessen conflict and discrimination, and advance peace and good community relations. We have increased our membership from 46 on 30 June 2021 to 85 on 30 June 2022. This has largely been due to members telling others about the direct benefits which they have gained from being a member of ABCFHA. The articles and stories that our members have submitted for publication either in a book or on our website, and the family trees which they have created, are evidence that they have gained knowledge and understanding of how to research family history in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon geographical areas, and in Northern Ireland itself. Many new friendships have been formed amongst members locally and from around the world and a greater understanding of each other’s lives and backgrounds has been gained, helping to promote religious and racial harmony, equality and diversity, lessen conflict and discrimination, and advance peace and good community relations. This can be seen from recordings of talks and courses, where members are enjoying one another's company. A member may become upset at something in their family history such as an illegitimate birth or bigamy. We try to minimise such upset by preparing members for what they might find, and if anyone feels that they couldn’t cope with a distressing discovery, we suggest family history research may not be for them. If something does come to light which they find distressing, an experienced member of Committee, who will be able to empathise having had many surprising discoveries in their own family research, will talk this through with them and look at possible scenarios which might explain the situation. Such occurrences are very common in family history and have happened to many, many people who do family history research, which can help people cope with their own discoveries. This knowledge, and time to digest things, should result in the member coping with the new information they have found. This potential harm is very much outweighed by the benefits arising from our purposes. The beneficiaries are the members and their families; any member of the public who learns and understands more about family history through attending any of our events or reading any of our publications, and those members of the public who have contacted us for assistance with a family research query. There is a private benefit arising from our purposes, as professional speakers whom we engage and the places we visit receive financial remuneration as a result, but this benefit is incidental, and necessary as we could not achieve our purposes without them. The public benefit which ensues is much greater than this incidental private benefit. None of our own members who acts as a speaker, runs a course for members or carries out any work for the Association receives any renumeration for doing so.
What your organisation does
ABCFHA offers a wide range of activities which include talks, courses, workshops, visits, projects, events and one-to-one support, all related to family history and the social history context in which our ancestors lived. Members can attend all of these with no additional charge, except for events and visits which may incur additional costs such
as meals, entry fees and transport. Non-members are also very welcome to join us on visits and for special events. We also offer assistance to any member of the public who contacts us with a family history research query.
The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
- The advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity
Who the charity helps
- General public
- Men
- Older people
- Women
How the charity works
- Education/training
- Heritage/historical