NICVA AGM 2025 — Reflections, Renewal and a New Strategic Direction
8 December, 2025
On Friday 5 December 2025, the NICVA community gathered for our Annual General Meeting, bringing together members, trustees, staff and partners from across the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. The AGM offered an important moment to reflect on the achievements and challenges of the past year, and to look ahead with purpose and ambition.
Reflecting on a Year of Challenge and Purpose
NICVA Chair Liam Devine opened the meeting by acknowledging a year that has tested the sector, but also revealed deep resilience and a renewed sense of purpose.
He thanked NICVA’s Senior Leadership Team, staff and trustees for their dedication under increasingly difficult conditions — including rising National Insurance costs and mounting financial pressures facing many organisations.
Despite these challenges, NICVA worked tirelessly for and with our members, supporting direct engagement with funders and government departments to ensure that the voice of the VCSE sector remained heard and respected.
Highlights from 2024–25: NICVA’s Impact
NICVA CEO Celine McStravick presented the Annual Report, highlighting achievements across the year.
Key outputs included:
- Supporting organisations at every stage of their lifecycle — from formation and development to, when required, sensitive guidance around closure.
- Expanding learning opportunities through accredited and non-accredited programmes, and becoming an OCN-approved training centre.
- Offering specialist support in governance, workforce issues, funding, HR, financial planning and cyber resilience.
- Generating sector intelligence through research, surveys and engagement to inform policy and practice.
- Bringing members together for events, seminars and policy discussions that foster collaboration and shared learning.
- Championing the VCSE sector’s interests through representation on strategic committees, advisory groups and government forums.
Changes to NICVA’s Executive Committee
The AGM also marked changes to NICVA’s Executive Committee. We warmly thanked those standing down — Patricia Lewsley-Mooney CBE and Marie Cavanagh — for their committed service.
From a strong field of 10 nominees, four members were elected or re-elected to the Committee:
- Ashleigh Roberts, East Belfast Community Development Agency
- Liam Devine, Clanrye Group
- Michelle Janes, Barnardos
- Jim Donnelly, Active Communities Network
We were also delighted to confirm Sir Kenneth Branagh as Honorary President for a further term.
A New Look, and a New Strategy
Celine unveiled NICVA’s refreshed brand — a modernised identity reflecting over 80 years of championing the voluntary and community sector, and our commitment to strengthening its collective voice.
The rebrand forms part of NICVA’s wider strategy to make our support, services and advocacy easier to access and more visible. Members also received a preview of our new strategic framework and an early look at our redesigned website, which will bring all NICVA platforms into one place.
The updated strategy is built around clear pillars, including a unified pathway for support and training, ensuring we continue to deliver high-quality guidance and representation for the sector.
Read more on our refreshed brand here.
A Powerful Keynote by Darren McGarvey
The AGM’s keynote speaker, writer and campaigner Darren McGarvey, delivered a powerful and deeply personal address on the critical role of the VCSE sector. Drawing on his own lived experience, he reflected on how, in times of poverty and crisis, local arts organisations and community groups often reach people long before any statutory services do.
He described how local organisations “carried a depth of trust that no statutory organisation could replicate.” For many — young people, families, people on the margins — community groups offered that formative belief, a sense of worth, hope and possibility when all else seemed bleak.
Darren challenged the notion of the VCSE sector as a stop-gap or “emergency service.” Instead he urged recognition of it as an essential, moral backbone of everyday support: “people desire partnership, not paternalism.” He argued that lived experience must guide professional practice, and that the sector should aim to build capacity — not dependency — in communities.
Above all, he called for a new relationship between government and the VCSE sector: not short-term grants and temporary fixes, but long-term partnership based on trust, collaboration and shared agency. As he put it, “hope lives in small rooms — not in chambers. Not in reports, but relationships.”
Attendees then engaged in roundtable discussions exploring how to frame and communicate sector challenges in ways that build understanding, credibility and influence.
A surprise close to the session came through a recorded message from our Honorary President Sir Kenneth Branagh, who commended both NICVA and the wider voluntary sector for the significant work delivered every day.
Community, Celebration and Connection
After the formal AGM and keynote, members enjoyed a communal lunch and had the opportunity to browse a mini Christmas market showcasing local charities and social enterprises — accompanied by a beautiful performance from the Cancer Focus Sing for Life Choir.
Looking Ahead
As NICVA prepares to launch our new strategic plan and website early next year, we remain committed to strengthening the sector’s voice, supporting organisations through every challenge, and championing a fair, inclusive, and sustainable future for communities across Northern Ireland
