BelfastTrad
Traditional Music and Dance Society
Strategic Review
and
Business Plan
2015/16
Table of Contents
Building on Two Decades of Growth
1
A Commitment to Excellence
2
A Commitment to Partnerships
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In Tune with ACNI Objectives and Criteria
5
Our Environment and Position
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Our Ambitions for 2015/16 and Beyond
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Our Strategic Actions for 2015/16
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Our Programme for 2015/16
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Building on Two Decades of Growth
In 2012 the Society celebrated its 21st birthday and its rebranding as BelfastTrad with a series of
events designed to both reach new audiences and celebrate the long history of our organisation,
culminating in a Gala Evening at the Belfast City Hall in October of that year. This event highlighted
all the strengths and achievements of the Society over the past two decades. The high quality of the
music and dance performances by a roster of our tutors, past and present, and the sold-out room
demonstrated both the high level of artistry and the strong community support we have developed.
The Society was formed over two decades ago as a modest initiative by a group of like-minded set
dancers from Belfast and Bangor who recognised the potential of traditional set dancing as a deeply
attractive cultural resource which could be experienced and shared widely across the entire
community in Northern Ireland. Ever since, our mission has been to promote and develop a
knowledge and love of set dancing among the community in Belfast and its environs. This mission
naturally expanded to encompass the dance music tradition, and classes and workshops in a widening
variety of instruments became part of our provision. With support from the National Lottery, hard to
get instruments (harp, concertina, accordion, pipes) were purchased and made available for hire,
greatly increasing the accessibility of our classes. The Society now prioritises solo step and sean nós
dancing in addition to set dancing, and traditional singing classes are now fully incorporated into the
programme along with all main instruments in the tradition.
BelfastTrad has been a leader in exploring both the Irish and Scottish dimensions of this tradition,
and over the years has formed strong alliances with some of the most renowned dancing masters and
musicians from both Ireland and Scotland. With a roster of music and dance tutors that is unrivalled
in quality in Northern Ireland and a committee membership with wide contacts in traditional music
and dance circles at home and abroad, the Society has positioned itself to recruit a very high standard
of artists to deliver workshops, master classes, and lectures. Our cross-community and open-to-all
ethos is reinforced by a programme that highlights the creative and historic connections between
Irish traditional music, song, and dance and kindred genres from Scotland, America, and beyond.
This not only broadens our appeal as an inclusive organization in the traditional arts sector, it has
given the Society the capacity to address issues of community relations and mutual understanding
that are deeply important to the future of Northern Ireland and its image abroad.
Recent years have seen a number of significant developments. In 2012 we inaugurated our first
lecture/recital series on aspects of the music and dance traditions. Events in our first series included
a lecture/recital and workshops on the ancient Irish Harp by scholar and harpist Siobhan Armstrong,
lecture/recitals on the Ulster song tradition by renowned traditional singer Len Graham, on Kerry
dance traditions by accordionist Paudie O’Connor. This year we promoted well attended and
received lectures by Conor Caldwell and Danny Diamond on the 1964 meeting of Pete Seeger and
John Doherty in Donegal, Maurice Leyden on the Weaver Song Tradition of Ulster, and Marcas Ó
Murchú on the influential 78 rpm recording era of Irish music in America.
BelfastTrad’s management committee has also taken giant steps forward in the areas of governance,
management, and marketing in recent years. The Committee worked closely with NICVA and the
Arts Council to redraft its constitution in 2010, approved at our Annual General Meeting in 2011, to
insure that best practice is adhered to in all areas. We have developed and implemented a tutor
agreement document, which clarifies roles and responsibilities in the delivery of our programme as
well as a new hiring policy. We have upgraded many of our policies and keep them posted on our
website. This website, launched first in 2003, has recently undergone a second redesign and has
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grown dramatically in content in the last three years. It is a valuable resource for our students and it
serves as the hub for our online booking, e-marketing and social networking. In 2014 we began our
collaboration with We Got Tickets, an online event retailer whose service gives the Society valuable
electronic data on enrolment and attendance and control over our box office. This data is
complemented by the regular and thorough conduct of evaluation surveys, so that the viability and
quality of each aspect of our programme comes under routine review. Also within the last year the
management committee has begun a rolling programme of delivering updated child safeguarding and
equality training for all committee members and tutors. Most recently, we have established
BelfastTrad as a Registered Charity with the new Northern Ireland Charities Commission.
A Commitment to Excellence
Excellence in Governance
BelfastTrad Traditional Music and Dance Society is a formally constituted Registered Charity
managed by a committee entirely comprised of volunteers elected at an Annual General Meeting in
June each year. We have an elected Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary and the remaining
committee members have defined support and shadowing roles across the range of committee
functions including event planning, tutor liaison, safeguarding, marketing, web development, and
accounting. The committee meets monthly on a formal agenda which includes ACNI reporting,
financial reporting, current programme monitoring and review, future programme planning,
safeguarding, marketing, and outreach activities. At the end of each term additional issues are
addressed: review of enrolment, income, and evaluation data. The committee also manages tutor
turnover to maintain a roster of the highest quality teachers available in the region.
In accordance with the requirements of a Registered Charity and as reflected in its Constitution,
BelfastTrad produces an audited, certified set of Annual Accounts, which are submitted to ACNI
after ratification by the Committee. These accounts provide detailed evidence of the Society’s
stewardship of Restricted and Unrestricted funding. The committee organises on a rolling basis
training and updating of policy in the areas of equal opportunities, child and vulnerable adult
safeguarding, privacy and data protection. Through our memberships in NICVA and Audiences NI,
we are able to take full advantage of relevant training in website maintenance, social networking and
marketing opportunities. We solicit through our student feedback surveys volunteers from among our
membership. This has brought us valuable support in areas such as IT support, extra support for
events and legal advice. BelfastTrad carries full liability insurance through Musician’s Insurance
Services.
The current management committee team (see Enclosure 1 to the BelfastTrad AFP Application
2015/16) ) comprises individuals with a wide range of skills, ages and backgrounds, combining
strategic planning, advanced accounting, computer and communication skills with a deep expertise in
the artistic areas of music, song, and dance. Recruited and elected from the ranks of both students
and tutors as well as from across the wider community, the committee is bound by a cohesion of
interest and enthusiasm for dance, music, and song and is focused on the needs of the membership
and wider audience. The Society is ever mindful of opportunities and benefits we can provide that
will encourage and support integrated social interaction between people of different age groups and
backgrounds. Our students have free and easy access to the committee through our website,
Facebook page, email and dedicated phone. The committee is responsive to the opportunities that
present themselves and input received is acted upon wherever feasible and as quickly as possible.
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Good Practice in Financial Planning
The Society has performed well in managing growth. Recent years have seen expansion not only in
the number and size of our traditional music and dance classes but also in the addition of our lecture
series, the expansion of our instrument hire scheme and the addition of an advanced-level student
performance group. This has been accompanied by the development and maintenance of our website
and mailing list, member database, the organisation of promotional concerts and booklaunches,
expanded partnerships with An Droichead, Na Piobairí Uilleann, St Bride’s School of Traditional
Music, The Ceilí Series at Belfast Castle, The weekly student sessions at McHugh’s and our support
for the dance classes at the Camphill Community at Glencraig. We have successfully managed all
this as well as the increasing demands for data collection and reporting from the Arts Council and
now the new Northern Ireland Charities Commission.
The Society continues to record a prudent year-end “reserve” in accordance with good practice and
consultation with the Arts Council. Strong systems have been developed, and are regularly reviewed,
for management and oversight of finances, instrument hire and enrolments. These are copied to our
arts officer on a regular basis.
Excellence in Programming
The artistic vision of the Society is to provide the highest quality core programme of classes and
supplemental workshops, lectures and ceílis to any and all members of society who wish to take part,
regardless of age or background. We present our classes and events in ways that honour shared
traditions and make them live in the present. Our programming, our ethos, our membership and our
branding communicate this vision. It remains, as it has from the organisation’s inception in 1991,
who we are.
Teaching is at the heart of what we do and we consider our tutors to be among the best teachers and
practitioners available. We stress respect for the integrity of the art form and its practitioners,
understanding of the transmission of traditional arts in terms of style and repertoire, and recognition
of the scope of positive contributions to community and our wider society. We market to children,
young people, adults and older people and are successful in attracting members from all groups.
However, over time we have become aware of the special importance our organisation has in the
lives of older people. We find that adults are delighted to find a place to learn music and dance in the
company of other adults and children rise to the occasion in their presence. It reinforces the multigenerational experience of our program.
Our ethos and the networks we have established over the decades attract tutors and visiting artists
(for workshops, master classes, and lectures) of the highest quality locally and internationally. Our
teachers are among the most experienced and talented traditional musicians in the area of benefit as
evidenced by their CVs (See Enclosure 10 of AFP Application for 2015/16). We are regarded as one
of the main centres for learning set dancing in Belfast. The Society is the only organization in Belfast
teaching Sean Nós solo step dancing, and has taken the lead in identifying leading practitioners from
Scotland and Ireland in this field and bringing them to Belfast. Our tutors are held to a high standard
of teaching and responsibility through our tutor agreements. The committee keeps very closely up to
date with the way classes are running via our music coordinators and by use of evaluation forms and
workshop surveys to get student feedback.
Our programme has an enriching effect on the practice of the traditional arts in Belfast and beyond.
By providing employment as tutors to large group of locally based traditional musicians and dance
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teachers, BelfastTrad directly develops the skill base and public awareness of this cohort of talented
artists. This public effect extends internationally, as through our tutors and committee we connect
with renowned practitioners of the traditional arts based in Ireland, Scotland, and further abroad.
The appearance of internationally recognised practitioners such as Harry Bradley (flute), Daithi
Sproule (singing), Jesse Smith (fiddle) – to name just three of the dozens of individuals who have
delivered workshops and free concerts in recent years – deepens the connections of our tutors with an
international network of practice while giving local students and practitioners an appreciation of the
excellence and diversity of the art form internationally.
A Commitment to Partnerships
The Crescent Arts Centre, where the majority of our classes are held, is a key partner in the delivery
of our programme. BelfastTrad is the largest single tenant of the Crescent Arts Centre and its
programme contributes significantly to the Centre’s visibility in the community and to foot traffic
through the building. BelfastTrad consulted closely with the Crescent Arts Centre on the renovation
of the building, ensuring that the new facility would provide venues fit for our purposes, and has
continued to work with the Crescent on venue operational issues. BelfastTrad also works closely
with the Crescent in developing marketing and ticketing strategies that are complementary and
exploit the synergies possible between the two organisations. The reconstructed and revitalised
venue has greatly enhanced BelfastTrad’s ability to increase the accessibility of our programme to all
members of society in a neutral, centrally located, attractive, and accessible venue.
BelfastTrad cultivates partnerships with a number of other venues and organisations in Belfast. We
have developed working relationships with Catholic and Protestant churches, other traditional arts
and Irish language organisations, and venues in the city centre known for their promotion of
traditional music. These include:
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Rosemary Hall at All Souls’ Non-Prescribing Presbyterian Church, Elmwood Avenue, where
hold end of term concerts and ceilis, and sponsor workshops and public lectures.
St Bride’s Parish School of Traditional Music, Derryvolgie Avenue, for whom we supply
tutors and support for 5 classes per week. We send our youngest students to them.
Queen’s University Belfast School of Creative Arts and Student’s Union, with whom we
liaise on marketing and lecture programming. We host a table each year at the Fresher’s fair,
which attracts much student interest.
An Droichead Cultural Centre, the venue of our annual piping Tionól, co-sponsored with Na
Piobairí Uilleann, The Pipers’ Club, an international organisation based in Dublin.
St George’s Market, where we perform dance and music demonstrations to raise awareness of
our programming.
McHugh’s Bar and Restaurant, the venue of our learner sessions, which provides an ideal and
popular social environment for improving players from the Society and beyond. This group
has grown and strengthened over the past few years and now plays at various events and
venues throughout Belfast.
The John Hewitt Bar, a venue for our lectures, concerts, and informal gatherings.
Belfast Castle Ceilí Series – a monthly sets ceilí which attracts dancers from across Northern
Ireland and beyond, as well as demonstrating the art form to local and international visitors to
the castle.
Together these partnerships extend our reach in the local community, lending us a visible role in the
cultural attractiveness of the Queen’s Quarter and allowing us to contribute to the cultural vitality of
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Belfast’s city centre and Cathedral Quarter.
Our partnerships extend beyond the city and beyond Northern Ireland. Na Píobairí Uilleann in
Dublin supports our piping events. This international organisation for the promotion of the uilleann
pipes is a key collaborator in our annual piping and reed-making master classes and workshops. The
Historical Harp Society in Ireland was our partner for our inaugural lecture/recital and provided free
harps for the use of our students in the workshops. International links have been forged through the
Folklore Festival in Portugal where a number of our dancers and musicians performed.
We have a long-standing relationship with the Camphill Community in Glencraig, where we support
a weekly dance class for villagers and helpers. We also have a long term arrangement with the
Belfast Castle Céili Group to whom we provide partial financial support. Most recently, we have
developed links with Parkinson’s disease support groups in Northern Ireland with a view to
developing outreach programmes in this exciting new area of dance therapy.
Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) has provided us with specialist advice on
governance matters, including the recent review of our constitution, and child and vulnerable adult
protection. Audiences NI provide regular, relevant, subsidised training opportunities and specialist
marketing advice. Volunteer Now provides information and is our umbrella body for Access NI
checks.
Our commitment to excellence in governance extends to our partnerships. We have agreed
Memoranda of Understandings with Belfast Castle Ceilis, The Camphill Community at Glencraig,
and St Bride’s Traditional Music Group. We have less formal connections and lines of
communication with The Belfast Music Society, Ciardhe ns bFhidleiri (Donegal), All Set Cross
Cultural Project (Armagh), Moving On Music (Belfast), Andersonstown School of Traditional and
Contemproary Music (Belfast), and The Armagh Pipers’ Club (Armagh).
In Tune with Arts Council Objectives and Criteria
Of course, our key partner has been the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Recognising the Society’s
consistent commitment to neutrality, accessibility, and the development of shared cultural resources,
ACNI has consistently supported the Society with core annual funding throughout our period of
growth. BelfastTrad maintains a strong relationship with ACNI through regular, formal, liaison
meetings with the Traditional Arts Officer supplemented by routine submission of operations
documents, ensuring a close alignment between BelfastTrad’s core functions and ACNI strategies
and priorities. A natural synergy developed between BelfastTrad and the Arts Council in the delivery
of its strategic plans and policies in the traditional arts which continues to strengthen as these
strategies and policies evolve
Our commitment to excellence in governance, financial planning, and programming is the substance
of this synergy. We continue to be positioned strongly in relation to ACNI criteria for traditional arts
applicants to the Annual Funding Programme. Our strong vision and strategy for the development of
the traditional arts is delivered directly through our rich and varied programme, and is augmented by
new marketing and evaluation initiatives, and involving a range of local partners and agencies.
BelfastTrad will continue to focus its activity on the Arts Council’s current Ambitions for the Arts to
make excellent traditional arts accessible to all, deliver rich benefits to a growing community of
participants, while developing and maintaining key partnerships to further these ambitions.
The goals of increasing access to and participation in the traditional arts are integrated into every
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single aspect of the programme and strategic actions for 2015/16 (see below). This programme
demonstrates clearly how powerfully the Society meets ACNI’s public benefit criteria by providing
an ambitious array of extended educational opportunities, outreach initiatives, workshops, master
classes, and community concerts which are closely monitored with a number of data collection and
evaluation tools and procedures.
BelfastTrad is attentive and responsive to the needs of the community it serves. We are using
increasingly sophisticated tools for evaluating our programme and gauging the size and needs of our
audience and participants, including surveys and evaluation forms, a database of members, electronic
collection and analysis of box office data. Some of the mechanisms we use to maximise audiences
and enhance participant engagement are:
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continual website updating and development, including full programme description,
audio and visual recordings of workshops, music transcriptions, and documentary
videos, and visual archive
Mailchimp ( emails to subscribers) campaigns for each term and every workshop,
master class, and lecture to a database of approximately 1000 recipients
Flyers on each workshop and lecture distributed widely
Ticketing via We Got Tickets
Dedicated telephone number, especially important for older participants
Regular Facebook posts
public demonstrations St George’s Market and Queen’s University Student Union
Orientation Week
enrolment information nights preceding every term at the Crescent Arts Centre
end of term concerts and ceilis
Our programme demonstrates our understanding that cross-community provision of tuition in
traditional music and dance is well supported and demanded by the communities that make
up society in Northern Ireland and beyond, across all age groups. Our programme is at its
core a cultural project, which highlights the complexities and overlapping nature of identities
in the community and their wider global connections. BelfastTrad remains steadfastly
committed to a vision of the traditional arts in which tolerance, inclusion, and the
understanding of the complexities of tradition are sewn into the fabric of dancing, singing,
and music-making. Furthermore, we see and respond to the needs of the young, the old, and
the disabled (particularly Parkinson’s disease sufferers and those with developmental
disabilities), important groups in our society who appreciate more than most how the
traditional arts can enhance health and well-being. We continue to mentor young musicians
that come up through our classes, giving them opportunities to perform or teach when
possible.
Finally in the estimation of the public and artistic benefit of BelfastTrad’s programme, it is important
to acknowledge the organisation’s financial impact. Our limited funding is channeled directly to
front line arts provision. Over half of its annual expenditure goes directly to practicing artists who in
exchange invest in their own pedagogical and performance skills. Another 30% of our annual
expenditure is rental of space in the Crescent Arts Centre. The organization thus makes a crucial
contribution to the financial viability of a key ACNI capital client. Perhaps most importantly, the
committee of volunteers contributes massively to the local sector through its valuable volunteer time.
We estimate that the committee currently expends a total of 3000 hours, valued at £30,000 over the
course of a financial year delivering its programme. We offer the community, the arts sector, and
ACNI itself, excellent value for money.
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Our Environment and Position
Financial Position
BelfastTrad is on secure financial footing, with no significant threats or risks presently
affecting the delivery of its proposed programme. The organisation carried reserves of over
£29,000 into the current financial year (commenced 1 April 2014). Through prudent financial
control the organisation has consistently over a number of years augmented its reserves, and
we project that reserves will exceed £32,000 going into the 2015/2016 financial year. This
secure footing is founded on a stable scenario with regard to costs and expenditure, consistent
and stable income support from ACNI, and consistent marginal growth in box office income.
On the cost and expenditure side, two main categories (venue rental and artistic costs)
together account for over 80% of the annual outlay, and these are expected to remain stable in
the coming year.
On the income side, we do not foresee significant changes to pricing for our services. The
Society carefully assesses issues surrounding product pricing through student and tutor
feedback to the committee. We keep the cost of our core programme as low as possible.
The majority of respondents in our most recent student survey answered that they found our
classes and events to be “good value for money”. We continue to offer short free recitals by
all visiting workshop tutors. This has been an excellent way to provide access to “taster”
experiences at no cost to the audience.
Our analysis of our market position (see below) permits a confident outlook with regard to
the continued stability and incremental growth of our audience, participants, and box office
income. BelfastTrad will remain entirely dependent on ACNI support for the delivery of a
programme of this scale. However, even in the unlikely and catastrophic event of the loss of
its core ACNI funding, the Society would be able use its reserves to deliver the proposed
programme for 2-15/16, or to deliver a scaled-down programme for another two to three
years.
Our Market Position
The Society now generates a powerful set of data about its customers, both quantitative and
qualitative, which is carefully analysed on an annual basis. BelfastTrad maintains a thorough
evaluation process of all our activities. The needs of our students are paramount and we
remain flexible and responsive to their input. We combine the use of enrolment data gathered
electronically through We Got Tickets with our own survey instruments to track on
participation numbers, measures of participant satisfaction, and age and geographic profiles
of our participants. Our information capture is summarised as follows:
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Class Evaluations: We conduct evaluations across all classes, music and dance, at least
twice a year. This consists of a thorough anonymous questionnaire, which is distributed to
all classes by members of the committee who then wait while they are completed and
collect. We find this method insures the best response rate. The results are then collated,
entered into spread sheet and charted.
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Workshop Evaluations: We use a shorter form for our workshops. These too are
distributed and collected by committee members and entered into the spreadsheet.
Event Summaries: We track each event as it happens, drawing up event summaries that
cite the event, date, venue, artist, cost, attendance, volunteers, suitability of venue, etc.
These are discussed at committee meetings and forwarded to the Arts Council.
Postcode analysis: BelfastTrad draws in students from a wide geographic area. We use
postcodes obtained from our on-line ticket sales database as well as paper enrolments to
better understand our reach into the community. (See map below).
Instrument Hire: We keep a close eye on our instrument hire scheme via a spreadsheet
updated before each term begins.
Samples of our Class and Workshop Evaluation Forms, Event Summaries, and Spreadsheets
& Pivot Tables showing giving analysis of classes and events are submitted as part of
BelfastTrad’s AFP application for 2015/16 (see Enclosures 11, 12, and 13).
The table below shows the steady growth in our audience and membership in our music classes over
the last decade (not including dance classes, which in 2013 averaged 400 separate attendances per
term). Aside from dip in enrolments in Winter 2013 (possibly due to the harsh weather and civil
disturbances in Belfast), the data shows an overall trend of steady incremental growth in a
challenging economic climate since 2008.
Music classes 2007
Autumn Term na
Winter Term
138
Spring Term
107
2008
153
154
107
2009
159
120
108
2010
190
164
145
2011
192
186
146
2012
182
194
145
2013
190
153
151
2014
205
203
146
In our AFP application to ACNI for 2015/16, we project increasing participation, access, and
overall numbers over the previous year.
An important feature of the consistent growth over the years is the high number of returning
students and their satisfaction with our programme. Our membership is now higher than ever
and our feedback as evidenced by student evaluation is consistently high. An analysis of
recent evaluation forms shows that 98% students recently their tutors “excellent” or “very
good.” (See Enclosure 12 to BelfastTrad’s AFP application 2015/16 for more detailed
Programme Evaluation Analysis conducted by committee member Ann Godfrey). Our
workshops attract attendees from across the region and from Ireland and even Europe. Our
profile in the renovated Crescent further strengthens our position as a central provider of
Traditional Arts.
There are a number of other recent indicators of successful market presence and healthy
demand for our services:
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Successful, sold-out Gala event at the Belfast City Hall in October 2012
High participation in our workshops.
Number of queries the Society receives for outreach demonstrations.
Take-up of our instrument hire scheme continues to be at or very near 100%.
Growing attendance in our lecture series, now in its second year. .
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Demographic and Geographic Factors
BelfastTrad is very aware of its potential to have a strategic impact on specific groups
identified as a priority targets for ACNI’s ambition to make the arts accessible to all. Because
of its location and ethos, BelfastTrad can demonstrate its capacity for reaching the entire
community, including those in areas of greatest social need. All of our music classes are
currently held at venues that are easily accessible from all defined TSN areas in the city. Our
enrolment database demonstrates that our impact is distributed across a wide area.
With the assistance of Graeme Stevenson of ACNI we have mapped participation in our
classes in 2014. As the map shows, we attract participants not only from all around Belfast
but right across Northern Ireland:
MOYLE
COLERAINE
BALLYMONEY
DERRY
LIMAVADY
BALLYMENA
STRABANE
LARNE
MAGHERAFELT
CARRICKFERGUS
NEWT OWNABBEY
ANTRIM
NORT H DOWN
COOKSTOWN
ARDS
BELFAST
OMAGH
CAST LEREAGH
DUNGANNON
CRAIGAVON
ARMAGH
FERMANAGH
LISBURN
BANBRIDGE
NEWRY and MOURNE
Post Code Analysis of Weekly Class Enrolments 2014
(thanks to Graeme Stevenson, ACNI)
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DOWN
<15
4%
80+
2%
60 - 79
26%
15 - 18
2%
18 - 24
5%
25 - 39
22%
40 - 59
38%
Age Analysis of BelfastTrad Participants 2014
We also make a significant contribution access and participation of older people. While we
provide for all age groups twelve years and up, we note in particular our support from adults
and the growing number of older people that benefit from our events, as is shown in our most
recent analysis of age group distribution of the students, both in music and dance.
Our Ambitions for 2015 and Beyond
BelfastTrad is proud of the singular contribution it has made in promoting the traditional arts in a
cross-community and neutral environment in Belfast over the last two decades. We will continue
striving to provide the highest standard of traditional music and dance classes, workshops, master
classes, lectures and céilis in an accessible environment that is open to all. From our base in the
Crescent Arts Centre, with additional venues in the Queen’s Quarter and the city centre, we will
make the traditional arts part of the cultural fabric of Belfast and enrich the lives of people all around
the city. With the ongoing development of our popular website and online ticket sales we will
continue to strengthen our connections with our students and participants, and with new visitors and
residents. We will strengthen connections to the vast international community of traditional
musicians through partnerships with national and international organisations.
While BelfastTrad is also justifiably proud of its volunteer tradition, the Society has identified the
lack of professional staffing as a key threat to the continued strategic development of the
organisation. Maintaining and growing the quality of administration, decision making, and strategic
activity is the most serious issue faced by the management committee. As the enclosures outlining
the background of the present committee shows, we have assembled a very strong team. We estimate
that the equivalent value of the volunteer input of this team is well in excess of 3000 hours (£30,000)
per annum. However this is a team comprised of either busy professionals or recently retired, and
their commitments are necessarily limited. The turnover of committee members is higher than
optimal for a programme of this scope and importance, and the burden of maintaining continuity,
ethos, and operational standards has fallen on a few shoulders, particularly on Peter Woods, the
outgoing Chairman who served for over two decades, and the long-time Secretary Christine
Dowling.
The Society has reached the limits of its capability as a volunteer organisation, and the lack of
administrative support constitutes a serious constraint to the growth of its programming and its
strategic development. Even as the core programme remains stable, bureaucratic requirements
continue to grow. Like all of its core clients, the management committee of BelfastTrad has had to
deal with steadily increasing ACNI requirements with regard to data collection, analysis, reporting,
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and justification of its programme. Developing partnerships with agencies such as NICVA,
Audiences NI, Volunteer Now, Arts and Business are increasingly time-consuming. The committee
have recently spent a significant amount of time and energy dealing with Equality and Safeguarding
training requirements. Reporting requirements to the NI Charities Commission will continue to
increase.
While this operating environment has not threatened BelfastTrad’s capacity to continue to deliver its
strong programme, it is putting increasing pressure on the amount and the quality of the management
committee’s strategic planning and strategic activity. The committee has identified three important
areas where its ambitions are currently exceeding its capacities:
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Fundraising. BelfastTrad has traditionally relied on two main sources of income, ACNI
core funding and the box office receipts for its education programme. The committee is
well aware of the desirability of exploring for new institutional sources of funding. It is also
aware of the potential for generating box office income by sponsoring traditional arts
events. The committee is at present unable to pursue these lines of investigation with
vigour and consistency.
Institutional Partnerships. BelfastTrad has generally taken an organic and opportunistic
approach to developing its partnerships. These have been largely successful, but enriching
existing partnerships and finding new synergies with partners further afield has largely
escaped the abilities of the committee.
Marketing. The committee can draw on professional expertise and deep experience in
event organisation and promotion from within its memberships, and the steady incremental
growth in audience and participant numbers proves that we are marketing adequately. But
the time and energy required to formulate a state of the art marketing strategy
commensurate with the potential of the Society and drive that strategy with strategic actions
is beyond the capacity of the present committee
BelfastTrad has therefore identified a clear and present need for dedicated professional personnel
situated in dedicated premises to service the strategic work of the volunteer committee. We have
consulted NICVA and Volunteer Now on the use of part-time and full-time rates, relating the work
involved in grant applications, strategic planning and governance to “management” and
“consultancy” rates to relevant elements.
The Strategy sets out actions and key performance indicators for continuously growing and
developing the Society with close reference to the ACNI “Creative Connections” and NI
Assembly “Shared Future” Plans. Important enablers for the Society’s growth include
adequate grant funding, a reinforced PR Strategy and an Audience Development Strategy
which are targeted in the 3 yr Plan alongside the enhancement of technology support to a
range of Society administration including student enrolment systems.
This SBP is monitored monthly by the Committee and formally reviewed at half-year
intervals when it is re-aligned, as appropriate, with the developing context in which the
Society operates.
Proposed Strategic Actions 2015/16
Our priorities for 2015/16 are summarised below.
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Governance and Strategy
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Allocate resources to a three-fifths time administrative officer position, reporting to
the committee on a one year contract to commence with financial year 1015/16
Allocate resources to a professional consultant or team who will be tasked with
development and implementation of fundraising and marketing strategies
Allocate resources to a professional consultant or team who will be tasked with
developing a multi-year strategy and business plan, in anticipation of the resumption
of multi-annual funding opportunities in ACI beyond 2015/16. This to include a
SWOT analysis, stakeholder analysis, competitor and partner Analysis, and full
analysis of data on audience size and satisfaction.
Form a partnership subcommittee tasked with identifying, initiating, and developing
partnerships in line with BelfastTrad’s mission, ethos, and objectives.
Continue to develop governance and marketing capacity by seeking training and
networking opportunities through NICVA and Audiences NI.
Marketing
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Continue to expand the content and make more interactive the BelfastTrad.com
website by progressing a number of actions:
o post brief video messages of upcoming events that encourage feedback from
recipients
o consider establishing a discussion forum for members to facilitate interaction
about CD/tune recommendations, location and attendance of traditional music
and dance events, concert reviews, and any other topics (where to buy
instruments for example)
o develop a page on the history of BelfastTrad and continue to locate and upload
old photographs/videos of the Society’s activities
o explore ways to encourage members and the general public to survey, review
and report on the success of the concerts and workshops using Twitter and/or
Facebook through the website
o facilitate the sharing of audio files and transcriptions of music between
members in the music classes
Continue with on-line booking and data management arrangements with We Got
Tickets.
Incorporate Google analytics into review of marketing efforts for each term.
Solicit contacts in local newspapers and radio stations each September and January to
raise the profile of the Society and advertise the upcoming term.
Programme
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Maintain the present roster of 37 classes per term, monitoring closely enrolment
levels, participant evaluation, artistic standard, and overall viability
Continue the lecture series started in 2012/13 curated by Martin Dowling, Senior
Lecturer in Irish Traditional Music at QUB, who was co-opted onto the committee in
November 2012 and elected chairman in June 2013.
Continue to develop contacts with Parkinson’s disease support groups in Northern
Ireland and researchers concerned with Parkinson’s therapies with a view to making a
contribution to the new field of using set dancing as a movement therapy.
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Continue to provide services to the Camphill Community and Glencraig, and seeks
other opportunities to provide volunteer dancing demonstrations and tasters for
targeted groups: older people, people in areas of deprivation, people with disabilities.
Our Programme 2015/16
BelfastTrad’s proposed programme for 2015/16 will continue to provide the entire community of
Belfast and surrounding areas with a range of opportunities for learning, performing and enjoying
traditional music and dance.
BelfastTrad runs a comprehensive programme of 37 weekly classes over three terms annually, across
the complete range of 9 different instruments, song, and both solo and set dance. In addition our
programme includes four classes per week at St Bride's Parish Hall. Classes cater for age twelve and
upwards at graduated levels (beginner/intermediate/upper intermediate/advanced) on all the main
instruments in the tradition: uilleann pipes, fiddle, flute, tin whistle, button accordion, banjo,
concertina, guitar, bodhrán, harp and singing. There are four weekly dance classes in solo sean nós
step and set dancing. Each term culminates in a concert which features performances by advanced
and intermediate students followed by a céilí featuring a local dance caller and some of the best
regionally touring sets ceili bands. These have become important occasions in our calendar and a
popular opportunity for our diverse community of students, along with friends and family, to meet
socially and share their musical and dancing skills. We offer a range of instruments (flute, bodhrán,
mandolin, banjo, accordion, concertina and harp) for hire to enrolled students.
Here is the weekly schedule:
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Mondays: Solo Step dancing- beginners, intermediate, advanced. Set Dancing
beginners, all levels. Button Accordion- beginners, intermediate, advanced. Guitarbeginners, intermediate, advanced student group.
Tuesdays: Tin whistle-beginners, lower intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced.
Flute-beginners, advanced, concertina-beginners, improvers, intermediate.
Wednesdays: Banjo & Mandolin-beginners, lower intermediate, upper intermediate,
advanced, Bodhran-beginners, intermediate, advanced
Thursdays: Traditional Singing, fiddle-beginners, lower intermediate, upper
intermediate, advanced, flute-intermediate, pipes-beginners, intermediate. Classes at
St Bride’s Traditional Music School are also on Thursdays: Tin Whistle, 2 levels,
Fiddle, 2 levels, guitar.
Saturdays: Harp-beginners, intermediate, advanced
The tutors for the above classes are as follows.
Solo Step
Set Dance
Guitar
Button Accordion
Tin Whistle
Tin Whistle
Concertina
Concertina
Flute
Robert Hunter
James Barron
Jim Rainey
Arlene McCarroll
Tim Flaherty
Christine Dowling
Tom McGonigle
Úna Monaghan
Davy Maguire
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Bodhran
Banjo & Mandolin
Banjo & Mandolin
Uilleann Pipes
Traditional Song
Fiddle
Fiddle
Harp
Fiddle
Fiddle
Whistle
Whistle
Set Dance
Set Dance
Gavin O’Connor
Aiden Walsh
Paul Conlon
Tom Clarke
Maurice Leyden
Kevin McCullagh
Conor Caldwell
Jenny McBride
Josephine Nugent
Melanie Houton
Brian Stafford
Sinead Leyden
Fergus Fitzpatrick
Maggie McGribben
St Bride’s
St Bride’s
St Bride’s
St Brides
Camphill
Camphill
We run a minimum of 16 Masterclass/Workshops each year which broaden and deepen the
experience of the classes. We bring to these events highly regarded musicians and dance teachers
from every region of Ireland, from Scotland and beyond, utilising the extensive networks of our
committee members and music and dance tutors. The master classes not only enrich the experience
of our own intermediate and advanced level students, but also attract players and dancers (even
teachers) involved in other traditional music education programmes in the region. We also use the
workshops to expand our exploration of the links between Irish traditional music and dance and other
genres of traditional music and dance.
We have an evolving outreach programme which, in addition to our involvement at St
Bride’s, supports weekly set dancing therapy at the Camphill Community at Glencraig, a
Sunday céili series at Belfast Castle and weekly student sessions for musicians in McHugh’s
Bar. Our set dancers and musicians also perform and teach at various community centres and
day centres throughout the district as requested, this year completing a 4-week long series for
the Indian Community at the Markets Community Centre as well as numerous visits to day
centres and retirement facilities.
Most recently we have augmented our programme with a series of four lecture/recitals a year
given by professional and academic experts in various fields of traditional music, song, and
dance.
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