ANNUAL REPORT

2024

INTRODUCTION

This report covers activities for the period January to December 2024.

Dorcas ACTS, is a Christian mission of the congregation of the Aspley Uniting Church Qld. Dorcas ACTS is the registered business name of the registered charity Aspley Caring Through Service, ABN 20 250 897 085. 

Detail about Dorcas ACTS governance is contained on the Dorcas ACTS website at:
https://dorcas.org.au/about-us/governance/. Board members and their roles are identified on the website at: https://dorcas.org.au/about-us/board/

MAJOR EVENTS

  •  May: Skills Access Fair 2024 $2,715 ($5,430 raised and split with The ORCA project) 
  • June: Dorcas ACTS Sunday $19,920 
  • October: AUC Market Day
    o $4,000 AUC Market Day donation
    o     $300 from book sales
  • November: Food Drive (All Saints): Food plus $100 cash
  • November: Everald Compton’s book launch $3,228 8
 
PROJECTS

  • July: ACTS Rebrands to Dorcas ACTS

The reason for the change from ACTS to Dorcas ACTS is that there are several thousand charities on the internet worldwide (and 10+ million other entities) who call themselves ACTS.

This means people have problems finding us on the web. So, we have added the word DORCAS to our title. Dorcas ACTS is the registered business name of ACTS.

We have a new logo, new website, and new email addresses. The new logo is displayed above. The website is: https://dorcas.org.au/

The cost of the rebranding including domain names, website redevelopment, business name registration, artwork, business cards etc. was all donated.

FINANCIAL REPORT


Donations were received from the major events plus some additional donations from the congregation including a donation of $20,000. Note all expenses (other than audit fees) are donated as in-kind donations.

Grants totaling $25,000 were paid as regular grants, e.g. quarterly, to Dorcas ACTS partners
including Rosies, Andy’s Place, and All Saints Soup Kitchen.

GRANT (GIFT) ANALYSIS

  1. The homeless, the unemployed and people without family support and provision of meals
  2. People in need including single parent, older Australians, people with disabilities & people living on struggle street
  3. Asylum seekers on Temporary Visas and Refugees
  4. Rural Australians confronting the effects of severe weather conditions such as floods, droughts and bushfires including recovery and rebuilding of lives.
  5. School Assistance for children going to school without breakfast, students needing school resource support
  6. Domestic and family violence, elder abuse and the like
  7. Post COVID-19 assistance and support for businesses and employment options
  8. Overseas support via Australian Organisations operating in the country
 
DORCAS ACTS PARTNERS 
 Supporting people in need was provided in Partnership with: 
  • The ORCA Project of the Wesley Mission Qld – joint fund raising via the now annual Skills Access Fair 
  • Rosies – Friends on the Street: meals for the poor, the unemployed, and the homeless. 
  • The Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Foundation QATSIF:  
    • Provides educational scholarships to support eligible First Nations students with the educational costs of their senior studies. 
  • St John’s Cathedral Brisbane: food vouchers and bedding items for the homeless. 
  • Andy’s Place (St Andrews Uniting Church), Brisbane: meals and food parcels for the homeless, families with bills to pay, and food hampers for the Christmas season.  
  • All Saints Anglican Church Chermside: meals for the homeless and offering a place to socialize briefly through their Soup Kitchen as well as food hampers for the Christmas season. 

MARKETING
  • Dorcas ACTS launched a completely new website in July 2024 
  • The Dorcas ACTS website is in the first few Google search results when searching for “Dorcas ACTS”.  
  • Dorcas ACTS business cards have been produced for use by the board in promoting and providing details for donations. 
 
BOARD COMMITTEE CHANGES
  • Wally Rea retired from the board in June, Wally was secretary of ACTS for 15 years and was presented with a certificate of thanks at the ACTS Sunday Service. 
  • At the end of 2024 Everald Compton retired from both the role of Chairperson and the board, also after 15 years. Everald was presented with a plaque of thanks at his final meeting and was appointed to the honorary role of Patron of Dorcas ACTS. 
  • Chris Wright became the new Chairperson following Everald’s retirement.  
  • Varai Makura-Ncomanzi, from the 8:30am congregation, has been nominated to join the Dorcas ACTS board, and will formally join the board at the February 2025 meeting. 
 
OUTLOOK
There is growing demand for support for those in crisis especially in the areas of domestic violence, housing shortage, and cost-of-living increases which have disproportionately impacted the vulnerable. We have been spared bushfires this summer, but we now have flooding in North Qld so support in the aftermath of natural disasters will continue to be important. 
 
In 2025 we are looking to increase our activities including investigating additional donation sources. On the back of the successful Skills Access Fair 2024 we are making the Skills Access Fair an annual event. 

We sincerely thank and appreciate all the AUC Congregation, Dorcas ACTS Partners, organizations, and supporters for standing with us in our mission to support those in need. 

Chris Wright – Dorcas ACTS Chairperson 
11 February 2025 

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ACTS was established in 2007 when a small group of members of the ASPLEY UNITING CHURCH got together to discuss how Aspley Uniting Church could become involved in giving urgent financial help to people beyond our congregation who were in crisis situations.

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