TC/1114

£5m distributed in discretionary gift payments

FOUR years after the Omagh Fund was set up, just under £5m has been distributed in discretionary gift payments.
The fund has a balance of about £49,000 in its discretionary trust and £1.2m in the charitable trust. It has earmarked £lm from the latter towards a new NI trauma centre.
The work of the trustees and their staff over the past four years is spelled out in the report published on Tuesday.
The figures alone are a stark reminder of the horror of August 15 1998. As well as the 31 lives lost, 40 other people were seriously injured; 157 people saw others die; 238 saw grotesque scenes; 463 had someone close who died; 522 were in the street shortly before the explosion; 486 had direct exposure to what happened; 813 had indirect exposure; and 171 had near misses.
Two days after the blast Omagh District Council met and one of the decisions was to set up an appeal fund.
The council sought advice from people who had been involved after other disasters, and received guidance from Mike Harris, manager of the Hungerford Disaster Fund.
It was then decided to set up a board of trustees from outside the immediate area. The trustees were Mr Sean O'Dwyer, the chairman, the Duke of Abercorn, Dr Clifford McCord, Mrs. Joy McCormick, and Dr. Aideen McGinley, who resigned in December 1999. Mr Brian Oliphant was appointed manager, a post he has continued since his retirement a year ago.
Two trusts were established, one discretionary and the other charitable.
Within days donations began to flood in. By December 1998 the first million pounds had been raised. Between January and April of 1999 £2m was received; between May and August 1999 another £2m was received.
The amounts received since then have dropped off, but are still coming in. Between January 2000 and August of this year more than £200,000 has been added.
Functions
The money has come from many functions throughout Ireland as well as in London, Brussels and New York.
There were many high profile events, including the 'Late, Late Show' special, the Darren Clarke Golf Pro-Am, many golf club events, football matches involving top sides, appeals involving the GAA and Irish Rugby Football Union, and many concerts.
But as well as the 'big event', there were many smaller functions at school, pub and club level. Many people, organisations and companies gave private donations.
The discretionary fund was distributed among those who were bereaved and the Sperrin Lakeland Health Trust helped put the Trustees in touch with those who were injured.
Eight home visitors were appointed to visit families, including those in Donegal and in Spain.
Between August and December 1998 more than £500,000 was distributed. Between January and April 1999 the figure was about £750,000, and topped £2 million between May and August of 1999. About £500,000 was distributed between September and December of 1999. Between January 2000 and this August about £800.000 has been distributed.
As well as the discretionary fund, a charitable trust was set up.
This was to encourage high taxpayers to donate, and the 'Across the Bridge of Hope' CD was promoted as a charitable trust. Almost £1.3m was specifically donated under the charitable rules.
The Trustees say that they decided not to make contributions from the discretionary funds to those who had suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but to look at projects that could assist these people through the charitable fund.
Two projects, the Omagh Community House and the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation (NICTT) were identified.
The Trust allocated £150,000 to the Community House, and £lm will be available to the NICTT over the next five years.
Remarkably, for an organisation that has seen a net income of £6.3 million come in, expenses have been minimal. With Trustees and seconded staff giving their services free, total costs have been just £14,000, and of that £5,000 was for insurance.
The report of the Trustees acknowledges the contribution of many individuals.