After years of going from crisis to crisis, communities and those most vulnerable need access to a range of support and preventative services, and often, it is small local charities and community groups that are meeting these needs.
But with demand for services increasing and raising income more challenging than ever, it has never been more important to raise the profile of the small charity sector, so that the wider public, businesses and government understand the value of what they do and ensure these essential services continue.
At NICVA we’re committed to providing support, training, and advice to help small charities thrive and be sustainable in the future. Throughout Small Charity Week we’ll be amplifying the work of small charities across Northern Ireland, like our three amazing members below, and the support available.
Three small but mighty charities...
- Pure Mental NI
Pure Mental NI is an entirely youth-led mental health charity, led by young people under the age of 30, from a range of backgrounds across Northern Ireland.
Pure Mental supports children and young people in primary and post-primary schools, as well as the wider community, through a range of programmes, policy and youth work projects. Most notably, the charity designs and supplies resources to schools, serving as a curriculum for children and young people to lean more about their well-being, develop an emotional vocabulary, and tackle the stigma associated with talking openly about how they feel.
By educating young people about mental health and emotional well-being through a youth-centric approach, with resources designed by young people for young people, we hope to create a culture of well-being in Northern Ireland’s schools and community organisations, which makes it easier for children and young people to verbalise how they’re feeling to a trusted adult, access support at an earlier stage, and ultimately, reduce the pressure on statutory services.
As a youth-led organisation, Pure Mental has faced additional challenges, both in navigating the registration process for becoming a charity, and upon our acceptance to the charity commission. Having to navigate articles of association, companies limited by guarantee, a board of trustees, and the preparation of management accounts, at the age of 19, was a daunting task, but we have simultaneously been supported by a dedicated and enthusiastic team of volunteers, including our solicitor and board members who have offered guidance, advice and connections which have proved valuable in furthering our work.
Over the last four years, one of which as a charity, we’ve enjoyed many successes, from delivering thousands of resources to primary schools, to developing one of the largest pledge campaigns for the May 2022 Assembly Election, to the development of an innovative approach in secondary schools and the creation of our youth work programme, we’ve achieved a lot in a relatively short amount of time.
However, we feel that Pure Mental NI’s journey has only just begun, and we’re determined to achieve our greater ambitions, to deliver for more and more children and young people in Northern Ireland.
We’ve been very lucky, particularly over the last 18 months, to receive a great deal of support from NICVA, as Pure Mental NI has continued to grow and develop. We recently made use of several in-depth fundraising and volunteer workshops, which have been helpful in structuring our plans to develop our in-house fundraising strategy and corporate plan for the upcoming few years as a charity.
- Sight Loss Ministries
Sight Loss Ministries is a charity that provides holistic Christian resources and services for people with sight loss.
We organise a range of events focusing on the social and the spiritual. The last event dealt with the Cost of Living Crisis and people with sight loss. Christians Against Poverty (CAP) shared how people can get practical help through CAP services and elsewhere and included a Christian epilogue. Our next event is a trip to Holywood for a meal out and a walk by the sea.
We also support blind and partially sighted people to access the Bible, daily Bible readings and other Christian content on their devices, including smart speakers. Next year we hope to launch a befriending service, and we also signpost people to other sight loss services.
Finances are a big challenge as we seek to raise support to develop the charity. Recently, we applied to different grant-making trusts and await their decision. Developing policies has been time-consuming, but also necessary to have in place. NICVA shared several policy templates and examples with us, which were useful. Volunteer Now also has helpful resources on their website.
Some encouragements include around £2,000 raised for the charity through a sponsored walk and hearing feedback from people who have benefited from our charity. People have been encouraged in their faith, brought out of isolation to mix with others and supported to try something new that they would have struggled to do because of their disability.
Donate to Sight Loss Ministries
- Safer Waters
Safer Waters is a volunteer based group of like minded people who offer a safety boat service to all water based events in Northern Ireland. Safer Waters are also a Recognised Training Centre (RTC) by the Royal yachting Association.
We offer training to our volunteers and those of the wider community in water based courses according to RYA syllabus and standards. We offer to all organisers of water based events a free safety boat service for their event. Safer Waters offers a proactive service working between the event organisers and blue light organisations like the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). We are not a rescue service but work with event organisers to develop and manage events safely so that the blue light organisations are not needed unless a serious scenario develops.
There is no other voluntary organisation like Safer Waters in Ireland.
The current volunteers are experienced boaters who have fulfilled this role for many years working in local sailing clubs and have offered this service at events such as the Tall Ships, national and regional sailing events, community activities both as rescue officers and event directors. Some organisations/events we have supported include Nicola Doran Para Swimmer who is swimming 65km along the Ards peninsula to raise funds for Rider for the Disabled, the ISA Youth Sailing Championships, SkiffieFest, Action Mental Health festive splash, Bangor Sea week, Snow Patrol concert and many more.
As a small charity who have only been operating for 3 years, we have been surprised by the number of requests from organisers asking us to support their events and they are continuing to grow each year. Like a lot charities at this time we are struggling to find funding that allows us to meet the continued demand from community events and we currently only do so because of the generosity of some of our volunteers. To continue to offer this free service we have to find funding for new safety boats, insurance, storage costs and other safety equipment. Our volunteers are our most valued assets, committed to the quality service we provide and helping other community groups.
We have found NICVA a very helpful resource in the early days of our charity, providing useful practical information and they even ran a funding workshop for us. It is well worth signing up for their free weekly eNewsletter as it is full of useful information.
Get involved
This Small Charity Week we would encourage staff and volunteers of small charities and community organisations to access the free events and support available this week or get in touch with NICVA or your local community network for advice and guidance.
Small charities can join our 1,300+ community of members who are making a difference throughout Northern Ireland. What better way to celebrate Small Charity Week than by becoming a NICVA member Join us today!
If you are not part of a small charity, you can still play your part. The collective goal is to amplify the voices of these amazing charities and encourage the public to get involved, whether through donations, volunteering, or simply spreading the word.
